


Future Days

by MamaCurry



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Cas - Freeform, Angst, Cas doesn't have wings, Explicit Sexual Content, Female Cas, Gore, Graphic Description, Hurt Dean, Jack is God, M/M, Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Mentions of Eileen, Nephilim, Protective Dean Winchester, Sigils, Smut, Time Travel, Unprotected Sex, Warding, Wendigo, Wings, body switching, time jumps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:40:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24059869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MamaCurry/pseuds/MamaCurry
Summary: Dean, Cas, and Sam find someone-or something-lurking in the bunker.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Comments: 42
Kudos: 175





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My cover art for this will not stay up, so I'm just posting a link instead. https://twitter.com/Nurse_Curry/status/1258500765833969665?s=20

_"All the demons used to come around, I'm grateful now they've left."_

**JUNE 2020**

They did it. They finally did it.

It took everything they had, every acquaintance and friend they had made over the last fifteen years. Jack did most of the work, and with Amara’s help they were finally able to put Chuck down once and for all. Billie, combined with the power from The Empty, gave Jack the ability to become the new ‘light’ in the world, essentially making him the new God.

When they were finally able to kill Chuck, Cas especially felt such a relief fall from his shoulders. After years of terrifying mental abuse from the man, they were finally free from his grasp. Jack now had taken on the role of ‘god’, which seemed to be a much less daunting task then they originally assumed. Jack has ventured up to heaven to assure that everything was being repaired after Chuck’s wrath, and was even able to try his hand at forging brand new angels. This new celestial energy brought heaven back up to its full power, bringing with it a restored grace for Castiel.

Jack offered to heal Castiel’s wings, but the angel politely declined, stating he had gotten used to the human forms of transportation and didn’t know if he even remembered how to fly anymore. Dean of course insisted it was like riding a bike, but Cas persisted in his decision. The seraph was happy enough with his renewed grace, as it brought with it the ability to heal his loved ones in a time of need. He knew that although the monsters of the world were currently all laying low due to their intense worldly match with Chuck, they would eventually be back and the three men would go back to their regular hunting gig.

Dean initially didn’t know how he felt about the whole ‘Jack being god now’ fiasco. He trusted the kid of course, especially after he literally saved all of mankind, but he was worried about the power going to his head. However, once Billie had actually spoken the words ‘Jack is god now’ aloud to everyone, the kid’s reaction calmed Dean’s concerns.

“Please don’t start calling me god,” Jack had said, a worried look on his face. The surrounding humans and entities all openly laughed for the first time in days, and Jack just shook his head with a smile.

It was only a few days after the biggest fight of their lives that Sam decided to FaceTime Eileen. He originally planned to wait longer, to try and give her some time and space, but he found he couldn’t stop himself when his phone was in his hand and his thumb was resting over her contact information. They were able to have a constructive conversation, and Sam even flirted a bit which Dean gave him a solid thumbs up for from the other side of the room. Eileen said she would be coming to visit the bunker in a month or so, once the boys had a little time to recuperate.

It was that month later, and Sam and Dean were tidying up the bunker, preparing for her arrival. Well, Sam was cleaning. Dean was sitting at the library table, his feet propped up on the surface with his fingers linked behind his head while he watched Sam fuss over sweeping the floor.

“Dude, she’s already seen this place at its worst,” Dean chuckled.

“That’s the point, Dean,” Sam sighed exasperatingly, straightening his spine as he turned to glare at his brother. They both turned their heads when they heard a small noise coming from the general vicinity of the garage, and Dean smiled widely.

“Cas must be back,” he leaned forward and clapped his hands before rubbing them together while licking his lips.

“I can’t believe you actually sent him out on a run just to get pie,” Sam rolled his eyes and continued sweeping, trying desperately to get the small bits of dirt that kept escaping his dustpan. “What’s even worse, I can’t believe he actually did it.”

“He said he was getting bored,” Dean shrugged and stood up, bending his back side to side to stretch.

Just as Sam sighed and leaned the broom against the wall, dumping the dirt into a nearby trash can, they heard a much louder banging coming from the hallway. Their eyes instantly met, and Dean moved swiftly into the war room.

“Cas?” he yelled, walking into the narrow hallway that led to the garage. Sam followed close behind, his hand resting on the handle of his gun that was ever present tucked into the back of his jeans.

Dean opened the door to the garage and slowly poked his head in, his eyes darting around the large room. Baby was there, thank god, as well as the multiple other antique cars that the bunker housed, but Cas’ truck was nowhere to be seen. Dean straightened his spine and put his hands on his hips, turning to look at Sam with a cocked eyebrow.

“He’s not here.”

Sam furrowed his brow in confusion, then scoffed quietly. “Then what the hell was that noise?”

As if on cue, another loud bang sounded from inside the bunker. Sam and Dean both instantly pulled out their respective pistols, pointing them forwards as they rushed back into the map room. They both searched the immediate area, and just when they were about to move into the library they heard another noise coming from the kitchen down the other hallway.

The two of them carefully moved towards where they now heard a consistent clattering, using hand signals and head movements to communicate silently. As they neared the kitchen, Sam froze mid step and scrunched his face up in confusion before turning his head and looking at Dean.

“Is that…” he trailed off, tilting his head further towards the door to try and hear better. Dean raised his eyebrows and shrugged, trying to decipher what his brother was talking about. The elder Winchester took a few careful steps towards the kitchen, craning his neck and closing his eyes. He straightened his spine suddenly, and matched Sam’s look of confusion.

“That sounds like—“

Sam nodded in agreement and before Dean could finish his sentence, the familiar sound occurred directly behind them. They both spun around and simultaneously dropped their jaws when they saw a little girl standing in their hallway. She was glancing up and down the hallway rapidly before her eyes landed on Sam and Dean, and she inhaled sharply before disappearing again.

“What the hell,” Dean breathed out, his head whipping over to look at Sam.

“Was she—“

“Flying? Yeah,” Dean scoffed, “After all the years of Cas sneaking up behind me, I’d know that sound anywhere.”

“But what the hell is she?” Sam shook his head, his jaw still dropped in awe when they heard another loud crash coming from the library. Without a second thought they both ran back down the hall, sighing in frustration when they rushed through the door only to find papers falling in the air from a rush of wind.

“Damn it,” Dean yelled, “How the hell are we supposed to catch the thing if it won’t stop flying.”

“I don’t know how she got into the bunker to begin with,” Sam sighed, lowering his gun to the side of his thigh, “But I wonder if the warding is keeping her from leaving.”

“Well if it would stop moving we could let it leave,” Dean shouted.

“Dean,” Sam turned and lowered his chin with his signature bitch face, “It looked like a kid. Maybe we should try a different tactic.”

“Just because it looked like a kid doesn’t mean it is a kid, Sammy,” Dean clenched his jaw tightly before furrowing his brow at his brother, who was putting his gun back into the back of his jeans.

“Um,” Sam cleared his throat, holding his hands up and looking up at the ceiling, “Little girl?”

“Oh yeah, that’s not creepy at all,” Dean mumbled, his gun still outstretched as they listened to the random banging now coming from all over the bunker.

“Shut up,” Sam hissed before taking a deep breath, “We’re not here to hurt you, okay?”

“I’m telling you, Sam, I don’t think it’s—“

Dean’s words were interrupted when the small child again appeared before them sitting on the floor, her arms wrapped tightly around her drawn up legs. Her eyes were closed in fear, and she was slowly rocking back and forth. Once Dean realized how terrified the poor kid was, he lowered his gun and set it on a desk near the wall. Sam slowly moved to a squatting position in front of her, careful not to make any sudden movements to reduce the risk of her flying away again.

“Hi,” he whispered after a few silent moments. The little girl barely peeked the top of one eye out from her arms, looking directly at Sam. He gave her a small smile, and wiggled onto his butt, crossing his legs to try and seem less intimidating.

“I’m Sam, and that’s Dean,” he gestured with his head to where Dean was now leaning against the wall nonchalantly, shooting a sarcastic two finger salute their way. When Sam looked back, the little girl was nodding gingerly. “Can you tell us your name?”

“Joey,” she replied so quietly into her folded arms that only Sam could hear.

“Joey, okay,” Sam chuckled softly, “That’s a pretty name.”

“What’s your last name?” Dean spoke up, crossing his arms and taking a few small steps towards them. Joey opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly they all heard the door to the bunker slamming open, followed by Castiel’s booming voice.

“Dean, I looked everywhere and there’s no pie, so you’re just going to have to—“

Joey abruptly pulled into herself tighter and the small sliver of her eye that Sam could see flashed silver before she disappeared again.

“Damn it,” Dean groaned, throwing his hands up in the air.

“Dean, I’m sorry but you don’t always need pie,” Cas rolled his eyes as he walked up the steps into the library, “You don’t have to be so upset about it.”

“What? No, that’s not—“

“Something’s in the bunker,” Sam interrupted, standing up from the floor and placing his hands on his hips. Cas’ face instantly hardened as he set down the grocery bags on the table and pulled out his angel blade.

“What? Where?” he spoke through clenched teeth, his eyes narrowed.

“Calm down,” Dean huffed out a sharp breath, “It’s a kid.”

“It’s a what?” Cas tilted his head to the side and scrunched up his nose.

“A kid, a little girl,” Sam supplied, shrugging and shaking his head, “She can fly, or teleport or something.”

“No, it’s flying,” Dean held up a finger, “I know the sound of wings.”

“How would a child be able to get into the bunker?” Cas asked quietly, his eyes darting around at the ground.

“I don’t know,” Dean replied sharply, “But it keeps freaking out and jumping all over the place and it’s gonna end up hurting someone.”

“Or herself,” Sam turned and shot Dean a look before bringing his gaze back to Cas, “Is it possible an angel took a child as a vessel, Cas?”

“No,” Cas instantly shook his head, “The time I took Claire as a vessel was frowned upon greatly, and that was only for those few minutes.”

“Okay, so it’s not an angel,” Dean nodded, crossing his arms, “Then what the hell is it?”

“What else has wings?” Sam mused quietly, looking down at the ground as he tried to think back to the hundreds of lore books he had read in his lifetime.

“Fairies? Dragons?” Dean shrugged dramatically when Cas dropped his head to the side and raised his eyebrows in his trademark ‘really Dean?’ face, “What?”

“She’s not a dragon, Dean,” Sam mumbled.

“You don’t know that,” Dean muttered quietly, crossing his arms and pouting his bottom lip out.

“She was too big to be a fairy,” Sam spoke more to himself as he dragged a hand down his face. He turned and looked at Cas with a furrowed brow, “Cas, she literally just looks like a normal little kid.”

“Oh yeah, a kid that can fly,” Dean snorted, earning him yet another glare from his brother.

“I don’t know of any creatures that resemble a child that have wings, Sam,” Cas sighed loudly, “I need to see her.”

Dean scoffed, “Good luck with that, it won’t stop flying long enough to talk.”

“Wait,” Sam scowled, “I don’t hear anything.”

“What?”

“Listen,” Sam held up a finger, and they all stopped talking and looked around the quiet room. Sam nodded, “She must have stopped somewhere.”

“Maybe we got lucky and it got out,” Dean mumbled as he followed his brother into the hallway, first grabbing his pistol and sliding it back into the back of his pants.

“Dean,” Sam groaned as they began searching, looking in the many empty rooms of the bunker, “She looked really scared.”

“Could’ve been an act,” Dean muttered. He sighed dramatically and set his hands on his hips, shrugging his shoulders. “Dude we could look all day, this place is too big. If it is still here, it’ll probably fly away as soon as we find it again.”

“Dean’s right, Sam,” Cas nodded solemnly.

Sam’s face suddenly fell forward, and his eyes widened drastically. He held up a finger and nodded quickly, turning and rushing down the hall.

“Sam—where the hell are you going?” Dean chased after him, Cas close behind.

“What if she got stuck somewhere,” Sam yelled over his shoulder as he opened the door to the staircase.

“What is he doing?” Cas asked, sighing as he and Dean stood at the top of the stairs looking down at where Sam was practically jumping down them.

“I have no idea,” Dean let out a long breath, then placed a hand on the angel’s shoulder, “You keep looking up here, I’ll follow him.”

“Okay,” Cas nodded and turned to walk away, stopping when Dean’s hand migrated down to his wrist and gave a tight squeeze. “Yes Dean?”

“It could just be a scared kid,” Dean said quietly, looking up and making hard eye contact, “But it might not be. Be careful.”

“I know, Dean,” Cas gave him a small smile, the two of them standing in the hallway for a few silent moments before the hunter finally relinquished his grip on his arm. Dean watched him walk away and sighed deeply before turning and walking down the stairs.

When he reached the basement, he looked up and down the hall and frowned. He had no idea where his brother had been headed.

“Sammy?” he yelled, his hand moving to rest on the butt of his pistol as he chose a direction and started walking. He continued calling his brother’s name, and it wasn’t until he came around a corner that he heard a reply.

“In here!”

Dean’s head snapped towards the dungeon door, which was wide open. He pulled out his gun and raced forward, pointing the barrel into the room before he bent his upper half in. He first noticed Sam kneeling on the floor and drew a sharp intake, running towards him.

“Sammy,” he shouted, but his brother whipped his head around and held a finger to his lips. Once Dean took another step forward, he saw that the little girl was sitting in the center of the devil’s trap, her head stuffed into her knees that were bent against her chest.

“Shit,” Dean frowned, tucking his gun back into his waistband. If the kid was able to be trapped by this room, she had to be one of two monsters.

“I know,” Sam whispered, letting out a long breath.

“So she’s either a demon or an angel,” Dean replied quietly.

“But Cas said—“

“I know what Cas said,” Dean interrupted loudly, and he let out a sharp breath when he realized the little girl flinched at his volume.

Sam stood up slowly and groaned, turning to give his brother yet another bitch face. Dean shrugged and mouthed ‘what’ before rolling his eyes.

“Why don’t you go get Cas?” Sam sighed, “He’ll be able to tell what she is.”

“Fine,” Dean mumbled, then stepped closer to his brother to whisper, “Just watch your back.”

“Dude, she’s a child,” Sam hissed as Dean walked away, holding his hands up and waving them around.

“Yeah yeah, we’ll see.”

* * * *  
Dean jogged up the stairs and, once he reached the top, began calling the angel’s name. He let out a long breath dramatically and dropped his head, his hands on his hips.

“Finally found the kid, now we lost Cas,” Dean muttered as he shrugged and turned down a hallway, occasionally calling out for his best friend. After looking down one long hallway and already being sick and tired of searching for people, Dean rolled his eyes and stopped walking directly outside the kitchen.

“Cas, damn it, get your feathery ass to the kitchen,” he prayed quietly with his eyes closed, a smirk forming on his face before he continued, “Or I’ll eat all of your Oreos.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Dean spun around, his eyes wide when he realized the angel had snuck up directly behind him. He shook his head and reached out, gently shoving Cas’ shoulder.

“Where have you been?”

Cas tilted his head to the side, “Looking for the child.”

“That’s not—never mind,” Dean sighed, “We found it, it’s stuck in the dungeon.”

“But,” Cas paused, narrowing his eyes, “That means the child can only be—“

“I know, angel or demon,” Dean interrupted, holding his hand up. He gestured with his head to the back hallway and turned to walk that direction, “Come on, you’ll be able to tell us what it is.”

“I’m still upset you added angel warding to the dungeon by the way,” Cas mumbled as they walked.

Dean rolled his eyes and dropped his head back, “I told you that wasn’t for you. Plus, we added a whole slew of other wardings. Hell, I even threw a few nephilim sigils up but you don’t see Jack complaining now do you?”

“Jack is god now, Dean,” Cas replied sarcastically, looking down at the back of Dean’s feet as he moved in front of him. “Besides, you know the usual nephilim warding didn’t work on him because of him being the offspring of an archangel.”

“Yes Cas, I’m aware.”

“And I am but a mere seraph.”

“Hey,” Dean stopped and turned abruptly, a frown on his face, “There ain’t nothing ‘mere’ about you, Cas.”

“I’m just pointing out the fact that those angel sigils affect me, Dean,” Cas shrugged.

“I know. But hey,” Dean stopped and clapped a hand on his shoulder with a bright smile, “It’s good I added them, right?”

“Dean,” Cas inhaled deeply, lowering his chin to stare directly into Dean’s eyes, “If the child is indeed a demon...”

Dean watched as Cas trailed off, maintaining the intense eye contact. He eventually slowly nodded, understanding the silent conversation they were having. If the kid was a demon, they’d have a pretty big mess to deal with.

“Come on,” Dean finally spoke, jerking his head in the direction of the stairs. Cas nodded and they walked together down the steps. When they turned the corner for the dungeon, Dean furrowed his brow when he saw Sam walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.

“What the hell are you—“

“She’s not a demon,” Sam interrupted, remaining outside the door with his arms crossed.

“How do you know?” Cas asked.

“I was able to get her to calm down,” Sam replied, shrugging slightly, “Then I gave her some water to drink.”

“Holy water?” Dean arched an eyebrow, and Sam nodded. “Good idea.”

“If it’s not a demon, then that means,” Cas stopped mid sentence, shaking his head angrily, “I need to see it to determine what angel took a poor child as a vessel.”

“I just don’t understand,” Sam placed a hand on Cas’ chest, stopping the angel from moving around him and opening the door, “If she’s an angel, why is she so scared?”

“It probably knows that it’s gonna have hell to pay for using a kid as a vessel,” Dean crossed his arms and tightened his jaw.

“Maybe,” Sam shook his head, his brow still furrowed. “I don’t know, it’s just really weird.”

“Let Cas in, Sammy,” Dean dipped his head towards the door. Sam looked from his brother to the angel, then nodded slowly and stepped out of the way. Cas rolled his shoulders and hardened his face, his angel blade appearing in his right hand before he turned the handle and swung the door open.

The second Cas laid eyes on the child, his angel blade clattered to the ground and he stumbled back a few steps, his hand moving to his head.

“Cas? Cas!” Dean shouted worriedly, rushing forward and placing his hands protectively on the angel’s shoulders. He snapped his head over to where his brother was heading towards the child, growling, “What did it do to him? Make it stop.”

“I don’t know,” Sam yelled back, throwing his hands up before looking down at the still terrified little girl.

“She didn’t...she didn’t do anything,” Cas let out a few sharp breathes, his hand lowering from his head as he looked up and met Dean’s gaze.

“Well then what the hell just happened?” Dean’s eyes were full of concern and anger, his brow knit together and his breathing heavy and uneven.

“I don’t know how it’s possible,” Cas mumbled, leaning to the side to look down at the girl.

“How what’s possible?” Sam asked, crossing his arms.

“It shouldn’t...there’s no possible way—“

“Dude you gotta start finishing your sentences,” Dean interrupted heatedly.

Cas gestured with his head towards the hallway, and the brothers followed him out of the room, leaving the door open to keep an eye on its single occupant.

“The child,” Cas began quietly, “She’s not an angel.”

“What? That doesn’t make sense,” Dean shook his head and crossed his arms.

“Wait, Cas,” Sam took a deep breath and held his palm out towards the angel, his brow furrowed deeply, “Are you saying she’s a—“

“Yes,” Cas responded, his face hardened as he stared at Sam.

Dean threw his arms out to the side, exasperated, “Hello, GED over here, can someone clue me in?”

Sam nodded slowly and turned his head to look through the doorway. The little girl was still pulled into a tight ball, but had stopped rocking for the moment. Her head tilted up just enough for Sam to see her eyes flashing a bright silver light before dulling to a humanly bright blue.

“She’s a nephilim.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added some tags, please look at those before you continue reading. This chapter has some fluff, some angst, some gore, more fluff, a whole bunch of stuff. Just heed my warning.
> 
> Also, you may be confused. I promise that it will make sense soon, but for now just always look at the month/year at the beginning of each chapter.

_"Try and sometimes you'll succeed, to make this man of me."_

**JANUARY 2021**

It was a Tuesday.

Sam and Dean were on a run of the mill wendigo hunt in Northern Michigan. Cas had ventured up to heaven to visit Jack, but made Dean promise to pray to him if they found themselves in a pickle. The brothers ended up at a motel near Kalkaska which Sam insisted looked like an actual haunted building.

“It’s fine,” Dean shrugged, waving a hand at Sam as he slid out of the car. Because it was January in Michigan, there was several feet of snow on the ground and even more falling. Dean pulled the collar of his jacket up around his neck and shivered when a cold breeze made its way down the back of his neck.

They walked together into the lobby, if you could call it that. There was a single metal folding chair off to the side, and a narrow desk with a crooked sign that had ‘yell for service’ written in sloppy handwriting hanging from it. Sam sighed dramatically, and when Dean turned to look at him he just shrugged and walked forward.

“Excuse me?” he shouted, leaning his head forward. Suddenly a short old woman jumped up from behind the desk, making Dean and Sam both jump.

“Hello dears, need a room?” she smiled to reveal a mouth full of rotten teeth, her words slurring slightly. As she spoke, a scent of stale beer made its way to Dean’s nose, and he tightened his jaw to avoid gagging.

“Um yes, please,” he forced a small smile, breathing through his teeth, “Two beds.”

“Sounds great,” she squatted back down below the desk, and Dean turned to look at his brother. Sam had his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised, his lips pressed tightly together. Dean gave him a sarcastic double thumbs up, then turned back to the desk. Just as he leaned forward to make sure the woman was still there, she popped back up with a large keychain, making him fall backwards a few steps.

“Sorry love, didn’t mean to startle ya,” she sniffed and wiped her nose with her wrist sleeve before extending the same arm, holding the key out. Dean pulled his lips between his teeth and swallowed loudly, reaching his index finger and thumb out to carefully pluck it from her grip. He turned around and saw Sam holding back laughter, and Dean roughly nudged his shoulder with his own as he walked past him towards the door.

“This place gives me the creeps,” Sam muttered once they entered their room. It contained two more metal folding chairs on either side of a table with a book holding up one of the legs, and two beds that seemed to have multiple unknown stains along the bedspreads.

“We’re only here for one night,” Dean sighed, moving to initially drop his bag on the bed, then decided otherwise and walked over to the table instead.

“If the comforter is that gross then I can only imagine what the sheets look like,” Sam groaned as he turned around and closed the door.

“Well then it’s a good thing we only sleep for a few hours,” Dean spun around and clapped his hands together, rubbing them quickly with a small smile, “But we have a whole day ahead of us.”

“Yeah,” Sam sighed, then gave one last disgusted look at the bed before shaking his head and walking towards his brother, “Based on the local legends and recent missing persons cases, it sounds like the Wendigo is in the woods just down the road from here.”

“Perfect,” Dean nodded, “We can go grab lunch then head to the woods.”

“I grabbed a map of the hiking trails at the last gas station,” Sam reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pamphlet, holding it up.

“Good call,” Dean pointed a finger at him, then gestured with his head to the door, “Come on, put your bag down and let’s go.”

Sam’s eyes darted around the room, looking from the stained bedspread to the rickety table, then over to the sunken loveseat on the opposite wall. He turned to look back at Dean, his eyes turned down in a pathetic frown. He let out a long breath and dropped his bag onto the floor, then dramatically held his hands out for Dean to lead the way out of the motel room.

Once they both grabbed a quick bite to eat at a diner down the road, it was time to head for the woods. They found a small dirt road that led to a marked path, and were grateful to find there were no other cars.

“Probably because of the murders,” Sam mused as Dean parked the impala.

“Yeah,” Dean chuckled, “Normal people tend to stay away from crazy cannibalistic murderers.”

“And then there’s us,” Sam laughed as he opened his door and climbed out.

“Charging headfirst into danger like a couple of dumbasses,” Dean smirked, walking towards the trunk and twirling his keys around a finger, “That’s our specialty.”

“Yup,” Sam half smiled, looking around at the snow covered woods, “We need to head north from here, most of the victims disappeared from a lookout point about a mile away.”

“A mile?” Dean moaned, unlocking the trunk and yanking it open as he rolled his eyes, “In the snow?”

“It’s not that far, Dean,” Sam scoffed as he began pulling their needed items from the trunk.

“Don’t forget the flare gun,” Dean bent over and reached to the back, grabbing the large barreled handgun.

“Dude, that was one time,” Sam rolled his eyes, “There’s no way you’ll kill another one like that.”

“Challenge accepted.”

“That wasn’t a challenge, Dean.”

“Too late, I already said ‘challenge accepted’,” Dean raised his eyebrows with a cocky smile, sliding the flare gun into his jacket pocket.

“Dean,” Sam groaned as he closed the trunk, slinging the bag onto his shoulder.

“Let’s go Sammy,” Dean announced, whirling his fingers in the air in a circle as he marched towards the path. Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head before following his brother.

By the time they reached the look out, Dean had complained three times about the distance, constantly asking ‘are we there yet’ like a toddler on a road trip. When they walked up the last hill and came to the clearing, Sam took out his phone for a picture.

“Seriously dude?” Dean cocked an eyebrow, “We’re here to kill a murdering monster, not for a photo shoot.”

“Shut up,” Sam shot him a bitch face before gesturing to the scenery, “Look how gorgeous it is.”

Dean looked out at the rolling hills, the many kinds of trees all covered in a soft white blanket of snow. The precipitation had finally stopped, and the sun was even trying to peek out through a few gray clouds.

“Yeah yeah, it’s so pretty,” Dean responded sarcastically, “Let’s get this done, I’m freezing.”

Sam rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips, pointing to a spot near the bottom of the hill, “I think we should start down there.”

“We just climbed up the hill, now you want to go back down the hill?” Dean moaned.

“Will you quit being such a baby?” Sam shook his head and gestured with his head to a small clearing in the trees to the left, “I think I see an old building down there. Let’s go.”

Dean slumped his shoulders and dropped his head dramatically as his brother ignored him and walked towards the path. He waited a brief moment before smirking and squatting down, scooping up some snow in his hands before packing it together into a tight ball. He then bit his lips to hold back his laughter as he launched it into the air, successfully smacking into the back of Sam’s head.

“Seriously?” Sam shouted as he spun around, glaring at Dean for a few seconds before he narrowed his eyes and bent over to form his own snowball. Dean smiled widely before scrambling over to a nearby tree, hiding behind it as a snowball flew directly by his head.

“Ha! You miss—“

Dean was cut off when another snowball smashed right into the front of his throat, making him cough and bend over at the waist. When he straightened up he saw Sam cracking up, holding his stomach with his head thrown back with laughter.

“Okay okay,” Dean held his hands up in surrender as he slowly walked over to his brother, “Truce.”

When they reached the bottom of the hill, they discovered that Sam’s original thought was correct and there was indeed a small abandoned house. It looked like no one had touched it in years, between the broken glass and the moss growing along the outside walls.

“This isn’t creepy as hell,” Dean mumbled as they both pulled out their guns and carefully walked up the porch steps to the front door. Sam reached forward and tapped Dean’s arm with the barrel of his gun, gathering his attention. When Dean looked back, Sam pointed to the floor directly in front of the door where there was streaks of blood with what looked like claw marks dug into the wood.

“Wait a second,” Sam placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder, stopping him from opening the door. He squatted and ran his fingers over the multiple deep scratches leading into the home, a confused look on his face.

“What is it?” Dean asked, his eyes scanning the woods with his gun still outstretched.

“There’s…these are different,” Sam pointed between two sets of claw marks.

“What?” Dean’s eyes snapped down, and he looked where Sam was pointing before letting out a long breath.

“These are from two different monsters, Dean,” Sam said quietly before standing up abruptly, “I think we should call Cas.”

“What? No,” Dean shook his head, “We’ll be fine.”

“Dean,” Sam grabbed his brother’s shoulder again, this time forcefully turning him around, “One wendigo is enough to try and handle. There could be two here.”

“Exactly,” Dean roughly shrugged his hand off, “We need to get it handled, now.”

Sam tightened his jaw and quickly dropped the bag and pulled out the flamethrower as Dean reached out and turned the door handle, peeking over his shoulder to make sure that Sam was paying attention before he pushed the door open.

The second they entered the room, they heard the low growl that was associated with a wendigo. However, they heard it echoing in the small cabin from all angles. Dean rushed forward, letting off several silver bullets into the darkness.

“Dean stop!” Sam shouted, his voice giving out when one of the wendigo tackled him, knocking the flamethrower from his hand. Dean heard the clanking of the metal on the ground and spun around, his face falling when he saw the wendigo on top of his brother.

“Hey asshole,” he yelled, firing a few bullets into its back. He knew that silver bullets wouldn’t kill the monster, but they did hurt it. Just as the wendigo turned its attention to Dean, another one came up behind him and reached around to his front, sinking its claws into the flesh of Dean’s abdomen, tearing through his multiple layers with ease.

Sam jumped up from the ground and crawled over to the flamethrower, and when he turned to look at his brother he saw Dean falling to his knees, one wendigo behind him holding onto his hair and the other one poking a claw into the exposed gaping flesh of his abdomen.

“Dean!” Sam screamed, lighting the flamethrower and aiming it at the wendigo in front of Dean.

Dean tried to will his eyes not to close, focusing on the wetness that was falling along his thighs. He barely felt the heat on his face as Sam burnt the wendigo in front of him to a crisp, barely noticed when the other one let go of his hair and his body slammed to the ground, didn’t realize how weak he was until his head smashed against the wooden floor.

The last thing Dean heard when he passed out was Sam yelling. He couldn’t quite make out what he was shouting, but there was one thing that he was able to pick out.

“Castiel!”

———————————————————————————

The first thing Dean saw when he awoke was Cas.

Not just any Cas, though. Angry Cas.

The angel was glaring down at him, his arms crossed and his jaw tightly clenched shut. Dean blinked a few times and slowly looked around the room, realizing that he was somehow back in the bunker. Sam and Jack were across the infirmary, whispering to each other with their backs to Dean.

When he wiggled his shoulders and tried to sit up, Cas’ hand shot out and slapped onto his chest, holding him down.

“Do not move,” he growled, slowly pronouncing each word with his eyes narrowed.

“I’m fine,” Dean moaned, reaching up to try and push the angel’s hand from him. Whether it was because he was still pretty weak or Cas was using his super strength, Dean only tried for a moment before giving up and letting his head fall back onto the pillow with an annoyed grunt and a quick glare in Cas’ direction.

“Hey, Dean,” Sam noticed his brother was awake and walked over to the bed, his hands in his pockets, “How you feeling?”

“Like I got hit by a truck,” Dean muttered, one hand going to his head and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes and groaned as another wave of pain hit him.

“You lost a lot of blood,” Jack said quietly.

“Yeah, but I’m fine now,” Dean forced a weak smile and grunted as he lifted one hand with a thumb up.

“Only because Sam prayed for me,” Cas hissed from the side.

“We could’ve handled it,” Dean waved his same hand before letting it drop onto the mattress.

“You are so stupid,” Cas looked up to the ceiling and shook his head.

Sam and Jack both turned to look at each other, their eyes wide. Sam nodded and took a deep breath, then gestured with his head towards the door.

“Jack and I are just gonna,” he stopped and shrugged before basically sprinting out of the room. Cas stood up and began pacing at the end of the bed, his hands balled into fists at his side.

“What the hell is your problem?” Dean took the opportunity to push himself into a sitting position, biting back a groan when a strong stabbing pain ripped through his chest.

“You,” Cas stopped moving and turned, his head tilted.

“What?” Dean snapped his head up to glare at him, instantly regretting it when his head throbbed from the sudden movement.

“You. You’re my problem,” Cas held his arms out for a moment before letting them fall back to his sides.

“Excuse you?” Dean planted one hand on the mattress, an eyebrow cocked.

“I told you to call me if you needed help,” Cas spoke through his teeth, his eyes turned down angrily, “But you didn’t. You would rather die than ask for my help.”

“I told you,” Dean cleared his throat as he pushed off of the bed, one hand going to his stomach, “That I could’ve handled it.”

“You…” Cas trailed off, shaking his head in disbelief, “You had lost a third of your blood volume when I got there, Dean. Tell me, how exactly could you have handled that?”

Dean huffed a sharp breath out of his nose, biting the inside of his cheeks, “I’ve survived worse.”

“Oh really?” Cas let out a humorless laugh as he stepped forward, his eyebrows raised, “Have you now?”

“I did just fine before you came along, you know,” Dean spat, instantly regretting it. Cas’ face fell in the same fashion it had when Dean had spoken those ill words almost two years ago, when Cas left the bunker and Dean didn’t stop him.

“After everything we’ve been through,” Cas let out a long breath, his eyes still boring into Dean’s, “You still treat me like I’m disposable.”

“Cas,” Dean groaned, running a hand down his face as he took a step closer to the angel, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that—“

“No, you don’t ever say the things you mean,” Cas interrupted, and Dean suddenly realized just how close they were standing. Because his hand was still on his stomach, his knuckles were barely brushing the front of Cas’ trench coat every time he took a breath.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dean whispered, swallowing down the lump in his throat as he forced his gaze to remain on Cas’ eyes and not drift down to where the angel had just licked his bottom lip.

“Purgatory,” Cas stated simply.

Dean drew a sharp breath, then coughed when the pain arose again, “I thought you healed me, why does it still hurt like a bitch?”

Cas shrugged slightly, “Because I only healed the life threatening injuries.”

“What? Why?” Dean winced as he shouted, then blew a long breath out his pursed lips.

“I’m teaching you a lesson,” Cas said quietly, then held up a hand and closed his eyes, “Don’t change the subject.”

“Fine, you wanna talk about purgatory? Let’s talk,” Dean nodded once, his anger building up, “Don’t act like I’m the one who didn’t say it, Cas. When I found you by that tree, I told you I had to say something, and you’re the one who stopped me.”

Dean poked a finger at Cas’ chest, and the angel glanced down at it before snapped his head back up to glare at the hunter.

“Because The Empty would’ve taken me,” Cas spoke quietly, his tone low as the typical gravel of his voice echoed in the room, “But whose fault is it that you won’t say it now?”

“You know why I can’t say it,” Dean hissed through his teeth, “We’ve talked about it—“

“No, you’ve just nonchalantly mentioned countless times in the past year that hunters can’t have relationships,” Cas tightened his lips together, breathing heavily through his nose before continuing, “For which you have no real foundation.”

“Are you serious right now?” Dean scoffed.

“Look at Sam and Eileen,” Cas raised his eyebrows, “They’ve made it work, haven’t they?”

Dean shook his head, waving a hand, “That’s different.”

“Why?” Cas narrowed his eyes, taking another tiny step forward so now their toes were touching and their noses were barely an inch apart, “Because they’re a heterosexual couple?”

“Cas,” Dean breathed out, shaking his head roughly, “That’s not it and you know it.”

“Do I?”

Dean looked deep into the angel’s bright blue eyes, their breathing heavy as they stared at each other for a long moment. Cas leaned forward just enough for the tips of their noses to brush, and Dean subconsciously flinched.

“Cas,” he whispered, his eyes slamming shut, “I can’t.”

When he opened his eyes, he saw the muscles of Cas’ jaw twitching before he nodded once and took two large steps back.

“I understand,” Cas responded quietly before turning and walking quickly towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Dean called after him, making the angel stop in his tracks.

“As you said earlier,” Cas turned his head just enough to make sure Dean could hear him, “You don’t need me.”

“That’s right, Cas,” Dean shouted and walked to the end of the bed, yelling at the angel’s back, “Leave, just like you always do.”

Cas spun around at that, his mouth wrinkled tightly and his eyes lit with anger as he marched back over to the hunter, “Like I always do? And who is it that always forces me to leave?”

“See?” Dean chuckled sarcastically, “All we do is fight, this is why we could never work.”

“You can say that all you want, Dean,” Cas hissed, “But I know the truth.”

“Oh, do you now?” Dean cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head.

“You’re afraid.”

Dean took a step forward, his chest heaving. Cas knew exactly how to push his buttons, exactly what to say to get his blood boiling.

“I’m not afraid,” he whispered.

“Then prove it,” Cas stared into those forest green eyes, his own blue orbs shining with hope. Just as the angel was about to shake his head and turn around to leave again, he felt Dean’s hand wrap around the back of his neck and yank him forward.

When their lips collided, it was just shy of too rough. Their teeth smashed together initially, their hands pulling and yanking on the other’s clothing to try and get them as close as they could. For all the times Dean had dreamt of their first kiss, it was nothing like this. There was tongue and biting and moaning and Cas was actually growling into his mouth like a goddamn predator.

“Cas, wait,” Dean pressed a hand onto his chest, pushing him away just enough that he could speak but still keeping their bodies touching.

“What?” Cas whispered, his pupils blown and his breathing irregular and heavy.

“I just,” Dean paused, gulping loudly, “I want you know that, that I…”

“You don’t have to say it,” Cas gave him a small smile.

“No, I do,” Dean nodded, looking down at the hand on the angel’s chest, “There’s been too many times that I didn’t say it, and this is definitely a time when it needs to be said.”

“Okay,” Cas leaned forward and placed their foreheads together, his hands coming up to rest on both sides of Dean’s jaw.

“I,” Dean drew a deep breath, closing his eyes and trying to focus on the feeling of Cas’ hands on his face, “I can do this, I promise, I—“

“I love you,” Cas interrupted, then pulled just enough to place a chaste kiss on Dean’s forehead.

“That’s my line,” Dean chuckled softly, biting his bottom lip as he stared down at the ground sheepishly.

“I figured I’d give you a start,” Cas smiled, tilting his chin down to look up at Dean through his eyelashes.

"Damn it, Cas," Dean shook his head with his eyes closed, letting out a short breath before squeezing them tighter together and bursting with the words he had been holding in for so long, "I love you, alright? I love you. I love _you_." 

Dean drew a deep breath, swallowing down the fear that was building inside of him before finally opening his eyes. The smile that was playing across the angel's face was one that Dean would remember for the rest of his life, he was sure of it. Cas' eyes were lit up with such an intense light that Dean wasn't completely sure there wasn't a little grace shining behind the blue. Because Dean couldn't hold back anymore, he reached up and grabbed Cas' face, pulling him close for a much softer kiss this time. They only pulled away when they heard clapping coming from the doorway. 

"It's about _damn_ time," Sam laughed, resting his hands on his hips. Jack tilted his head, then looked from where Dean and Cas were still holding each other over to Sam, his brow knit together in confusion. 

"Wait, they weren't already together?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A HUGE thanks to my creative beta Dani, without her I never would've never had the courage to post this story to begin with!


	3. Chapter 3

_"All the complexities and games, no one wins but somehow, they still play."_

**JUNE 2020**

“Wait what?” Dean’s jaw dropped. He leaned forward, looking at the girl who was still curled in the fetal position on the floor of the dungeon.

“That’s not all,” Cas tightened his lips together and began shaking his head slightly, looking at the ground.

“Sentences, Cas,” Dean groaned.

“I don’t know how it’s possible,” Cas appeared to bite the inside of his cheeks, which made him seem much more human than normal.

“How what’s possible?” Sam prodded, resting his hands on his hips as he intermittently glanced into the room to check on the child.

“Before I tell you,” Cas straightened his shoulders, holding both of his hands out in a defensive manner, “I have to assure you that I have never lain with a human.”

“Wait,” Dean shook his head quickly, his face scrunching up in confusion, “You’ve never what?”

“This child,” Cas pointed to the open doorway before taking a slow exhale, looking straight into Dean’s eyes, “She has my grace.”

“What?” Sam’s jaw dropped, and he let out a huge rush of air. Dean, on the other hand, had merely cocked an eyebrow and was staring past the angel at nothing in particular.

“Dean?” Cas leaned over to try and interrupt his glaring contest with the wall, and eventually Dean shook his head abruptly and blinked rapidly a few times.

“It…she…you…” he babbled, repeatedly tilting his head and looking all over the hallway.

“I don’t know how it’s possible,” Cas shook his head and ignored the rambling hunter, instead looking to where Sam was looking in to the dungeon.

“I have no idea,” Sam sighed loudly, putting his hands into his pockets, “You’ve never—“

“No,” Cas interrupted immediately, “The only time I’ve ever had sex was with April, and we all know how that ended.”

“But is that the only way that angels can, uh,” Sam reached up and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “reproduce?”

“As far as I know,” Cas nodded, “I’ve never heard of an angel being formed unless through sexual intercourse with a human.”

“I just…” Dean finally was able to string two words together, and rejoined the conversation, “I don’t understand.”

“I think we need to call Jack,” Cas looked at Sam, then stole a quick glance at the little girl, “Can you stay here with her?”

“What is Jack gonna be able to do?” Dean asked, chasing after Cas as he rushed towards the stairs.

“I’m not sure,” Cas announced as he took the stairs two at a time, “But he can at the very least read her mind.”

“Wait,” Dean held up a hand once they reached the top, taking a few deep breathes before continuing, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Cas tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes, “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well for starters, they’re both nephilim,” Dean shrugged, “Have two nephilim ever been in the same room together?”

“Not that I know of,” Cas responded quietly.

“Exactly,” Dean narrowed his lips together, shaking his head, “They’re one of the most powerful beings, who knows what could happen if we bring them together?”

Cas sighed, turning his head to look off down the hall at nothing in particular. He knew that Dean was right, but what other choice did they have?

“I think we should call Jack,” Cas held up a hand when Dean opened his mouth to argue, “And see what he thinks.”

“Cas, just because the kid is god now doesn’t mean he’s actually ‘all-knowing’.”

“I know that,” Cas let out an annoyed sigh, “But I don’t see what other option we have.”

Dean bit the inside of his cheek and pursed his lips, nodding slowly. His eyes suddenly brightened and he snapped his fingers.

“Why don’t you try to read her mind?”

“I don’t know how well it would work,” Cas let out a long breath, “Since she has my grace, she may be able to block me out.”

“But you don’t know that for sure,” Dean tilted his chin down to look at Cas through his eyelashes. The angel turned and made eye contact, then rolled his eyes.

“Will you stop giving me that look?”

“What look?” Dean replied, letting his bottom lip pout out just enough to make his face look pathetic.

“Fine I’ll try,” Cas huffed, “You know, Sam does the puppy dog eyes much better.”

“I know,” Dean shrugged with a smirk as Cas moved past him to walk back down the steps.

When they reentered the dungeon, Sam was sitting with his back leaning against the false cabinets that formed the doorway to where the little girl was. She was now sitting cross-legged, her head hung low as she picked at the bottom hem of her jeans. Dean cleared his throat and Sam turned his head, a confused look on his face. He stood up as the two other men walked towards him, their eyes never leaving the little girl.

“Did she say anything else?” Cas whispered.

“No, I asked her if she was hungry or thirsty and she just shook her head,” Sam sighed, crossing his arms, “Did you guys get a hold of Jack?”

“New plan,” Dean nodded as he walked towards the wall with a pocket knife, starting on breaking the regular angel sigils that they had added.

“What are you doing?” Sam hissed, walking over to his brother with his brow furrowed.

“Cas is going to read her mind,” Dean replied, keeping his eyes on the wall as he looked over the sigils to make sure he was scraping the correct ones. He wanted to allow Cas to use his grace in the room, but not allow the little girl to fly away again so the nephilim sigils needed to stay.

“I said I’ll try,” Cas corrected, letting out a sharp breath, “I don’t think it’s going to work for multiple reasons.”

“Yeah yeah, you’re her grace daddy, whatever,” Dean shrugged and waved him off before scratching the last of the angel markings. He turned back to Cas and clapped his hands with a smile. “Okay, how do you feel? Juiced up?”

Cas sighed and nodded before slowly turning towards the little girl. She still had her head down, and the angel bit his bottom lip before walking over to Sam and leaning towards his ear.

“What should I say to her?”

“What?” Sam jerked his head back, an eyebrow raised in question.

“I am not well versed in communicating with children,” Cas whispered again, his eyes darting between the girl and Sam.

“Okay well maybe don’t start with ‘I’m gonna read your mind’,” Dean sarcastically fake whispered from where he had popped up behind Cas.

“Just talk quietly, she’s really scared,” Sam placed a hand on the angel’s shoulder and offered him a small smile.

“Okay,” Cas nodded and turned back to the little girl, “Um, hello. My name is Castiel. I’m an angel—“

“Pretty sure she knows that, since she has half of your grace,” Dean interrupted from where he was standing next to Sam, his arms crossed. Cas turned to glare at the hunter before looking back at the girl.

“I…I need to try and read your mind so we can find out where you’re from,” he paused and lowered his voice, remembering what Sam had said, “We just want to help you.”

He took a few steps towards her before bending over at his waist and reaching out. The moment his fingers touched the top of her hair she jerked her head up and stared at him, her bright blue eyes shining directly into his. Cas froze instantly, and his eyes slammed shut as he attempted to breach her mind.

Sam and Dean watched as the little girl slowly closed her own eyes, then took a deep breath. When she exhaled, Cas’ hand lifted from her head as if from a hot flame.

“Cas?” Dean instantly rushed forward, a concerned look on his face as his gaze flicked between the angel and the girl.

“I’m fine,” Cas let out a sigh as he straightened his spine, shaking his head, “She pushed me out.”

“You couldn’t get anything?” Dean muttered.

“Well,” the angel turned his head down and looked at the floor, “I did manage to see one thing.”

Dean and Sam waited patiently for only a moment before Dean loudly spoke.

“Well? What was it?”

“A woman,” Cas whispered.

“Oh shit,” Dean scoffed, then waggled his eyebrows, “Was she hot?”

“It must have been her mother,” Sam offered, “What did she look like?”

“Dark hair, and blue eyes,” Cas responded, shaking his head, “I couldn’t get any more information.”

“Dark hair and blue eyes, huh?” Dean snorted, “So you made an angel baby with basically a female version of you?”

Cas rolled his eyes and ignored the hunter, looking at Sam, “We need to contact Jack. He’s the only one who will be able to read her mind.”

“I agree,” Sam nodded, placing his hands on his hips and looking at his brother with his brow raised, waiting for an argument.

Dean looked back and forth at Cas and Sam, then rolled his eyes dramatically and waved both hands at them.

“Fine, let’s go call him.”

Sam once again stayed with the girl while Dean and Cas moved out to the hallway. Cas began walking towards the stairs and Dean grabbed the back of his arm, stopping him from moving forward.

“Dude, I think we can pray from the basement.”

“What?” Cas asked.

“I’m just saying,” Dean put his hands up, “Jack is god now, heaven probably has 4G.”

“Please don’t call me that.”

Dean spun around on his heels, jumping from the sudden voice behind him. His shoulders instantly relaxed when he made eye contact with Jack, and smiled widely before stepping forward and engulfing him in a hug.

“Hey kid,” he patted his back roughly before pulling back so Cas could hug him as well.

“Hello Dean, Cas,” Jack nodded, closing his eyes as he squeezed the angel tightly.

“How’d you know we needed you?” Dean tilted his head and slid his hands into his pockets.

“I didn’t,” Jack shook his head with a small smile, “I was actually just coming down to visit when I heard you talking about praying for me.”

“Miss us that much already, huh?” Dean chuckled.

“Yes, I did,” Jack replied, and Dean tightened his jaw and cleared his throat to avoid the emotions bubbling up to the surface.

“We’ve missed you too, Jack,” Cas broke the awkward silence, smiling sweetly.

“What were you going to pray to me for?” Jack asked, looking between the two men.

Dean took a deep breath and blew it out pursed lips, shaking his head with a smile, “That’s a loaded question, bud.”

“The gist of it is,” Cas shot Dean a quick glare before looking back at his son, “A young nephilim appeared, here.”

“Oh,” Jack nodded quickly, “That explains the weird sensation I’ve been getting.”

“Sensation?” Dean arched an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Jack looked at Dean pointedly, “Ever since I arrived, I had this very strange feeling. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but now that I know there’s another nephilim here, I understand.”

“That’s not all,” Cas sighed, “She somehow has been created using my grace.”

Jack’s eyes widened comically, and his eyes darted between the angel and the hunter without his head moving.

“We need you to read her mind,” Dean held up a hand, “Because obviously Cas here hasn’t been going around sowing wild oats with humans.”

“Precisely,” Cas nodded in agreement.

“Okay,” Jack nodded slowly, then shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, “Where is she?”

“In the dungeon,” Dean jerked his head to the closed doorway about ten feet down the hall from them.

“You put her in the dungeon?” Jack asked with a shocked tone.

“She was teleporting all over the bunker and when she got to the bunker, she got stuck,” Dean explained quickly, his hands held up defensively.

“Okay,” Jack responded slowly, “But how do you expect me to read her mind if there are nephilim sigils?”

“I—“ Dean began, then sharply cut off and wrinkled his forehead, “Dude, you’re god.”

“I have barely more power than I used to, Dean,” Jack sighed exasperatingly, “You know that.”

“But…but you’re god.”

“Dean,” Cas groaned, turning to give the hunter a look that said ‘let it go’.

“Fine,” Dean huffed, crossing his arms, “But then how the hell are we going to do this?”

“I don’t know, Dean. It’s not like we can put angel cuffs on a child,” Cas turned and instantly held up a finger when Dean opened his mouth, “We are not putting angel cuffs on a child.”

“Fine, what if we take down most of the nephilim warding?” Dean turned and shrugged, looking at Jack.

“It’s worth a shot, I guess,” Jack nodded, “If she really was created using Castiel’s grace, then she shouldn’t be as powerful as me.”

“Ouch,” Dean flinched, then looked over at Cas, who was nodding solemnly.

“It’s true,” the angel agreed.

“Okay,” Dean slapped his hands and rubbed them together with a grin, “Let’s do this.”

The three of them walked into the dungeon, and when Sam heard their steps he turned around and smiled, giving Jack a quick hug as Dean and Cas went to work on the nephilim sigils. Jack pulled away from Sam’s hug and looked around his shoulders, his brow furrowing as he looked at the little girl.

“Wait Jack,” Sam put a hand on the young man’s chest, then looked over to Dean, “Are we sure this is a good idea? We’re about to bring two very powerful beings together.”

“Sam,” Jack reached up and wrapped his hand around Sam’s wrist, looking at him with a soft smile, “I have control of the situation. Nothing bad will happen.”

“Okay,” Sam nodded in trusting and dropped his hand, backing away from Jack, “Her name is Joey.”

Cas scratched the last of the nephilim sigils, leaving one whole one on the back wall and Jack took a deep breath before opening his eyes, revealing the gold light shining from within. He slowly exhaled, and his eyes slowly dimmed to his usual light blue before he turned around and walked towards the little girl.

“Hello,” he held up his hand in his signature Jack greeting, smiling as he carefully dropped to his knees directly in front of the girl, “I’m Jack.”

Her head began to slowly raise, and when they finally got a good look at her eyes, there was no doubt that she was made from Castiel. Her bright blue eyes were identical to his, shining bright as she looked at Jack.

“We’re here to help you, Joey,” Jack smiled and scooted a little closer to her, surprised when she didn’t flinch or move backwards. “I’m going to touch the sides of your head, okay?”

Joey nodded slightly, still staring into Jack’s eyes. He drew a deep breath before leaning out and placing the first two fingers of his hands on her temples, closing his eyes. Joey inhaled sharply at first, then visibly relaxed and let her own eyelids fall shut.

Dean, Cas, and Sam all watched as the interaction took place. At first, it was complete silence without no movement. After a few seconds, the two nephilim both snapped their eyes open, Jack’s glowing gold and Joey’s a bright silver. Their heads were tilted back slightly, their gaze up at the ceiling. After a few moments, Joey began to whimper and close her eyes.

“Jack,” Cas took a step forward, and just when he was about to reach out and touch his shoulder Joey grunted and Jack’s hands were expelled roughly from her skin. He fell backwards onto his hands, then shook his head and looked at the little girl with a shocked expression.

“Jack,” Dean shouted worriedly, rushing forward and placing his hands on the boy’s shoulders, “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Jack shook him off and instead of getting to his feet, simply crossed his legs and tilted his head as he continued staring at Joey.

“Were you able to get into her mind?” Sam asked, crossing his arms.

“Yes,” Jack nodded slowly, “But how did she kick me out? She shouldn’t be able to do that.”

“I don’t know, she must just be more stubborn than you,” Dean chuckled, shrugging.

Jack raised his eyebrows and nodded again, “Actually, that makes a lot of sense, knowing now what I know.”

“And that is?” Sam leaned forward, his eyebrows raised.

“I’m very confused,” Jack tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, looking down at the floor briefly before looking up at Dean and Cas.

“Jack you gotta give us something to work with here,” Dean sighed with an annoyed tone, holding his hands out.

“Well for starters,” Jack moved to his hands and knees and stood up, dusting off his jeans, “She is not from this time.”

“Huh?” Dean raised an eyebrow.

“She’s from the future,” Jack continued, sighing loudly, “I couldn’t grasp what time period exactly before she shut me out.”

“That explains the thing with Cas,” Sam turned and pointed a finger at the angel, “You just haven’t had sex with a human yet.”

“I don’t think that makes me feel any better,” Cas muttered, his lips pressed tightly together.

“So hold up,” Dean held up a hand, shaking his head, “She’s from the future?”

“Yes,” Jack nodded, “Her parents were arguing and she was worried so she closed her eyes and tried to think of better times when they were happy and she accidentally transported herself here.”

“She accidentally time traveled?” Dean scoffed, then gestured wildly towards the child, “I mean how old is she? Why isn’t she grown, like you?”

“She’s approximately eight months old,” Jack responded, “She was born as a normal baby.”

“But why?” Sam asked, his lips pursed in thought.

Jack shrugged, “When I was born, I grew up quickly because I needed to protect myself. Perhaps she didn’t require that protection, so she was able to be a normal infant.”

“But wait, you said she’s only eight months old,” Dean shook his head roughly, trying desperately to grasp onto the concept, “She’s a kid, not a baby.”

“Wait,” Sam interjected, holding up a finger, “I remember reading once that normal nephilim age roughly one year per human month.”

“That would explain her appearance,” Cas nodded, “She does look like she’s roughly eight years old.”

“So an eight month old slash eight year old accidentally time traveled to our time because her parents were fighting?” Dean wrinkled his nose and shook his head, then scoffed and looked at Cas, “Man, apparently you and the Mrs. get into quite the argument in the future, huh?”

“Actually, about that,” Jack pulled his lips between his teeth and looked down, messing with his fingers.

“What is it?” Cas furrowed his brow when he realized something was troubling Jack. The nephilim was picking at his nails, which was an incredibly human trait he had picked up from Dean and only did when he didn’t want to say something.

“Jack?” Sam leaned his head down to try and catch the young man’s gaze.

“I saw the fight that her parents got into,” Jack continued, finally bringing his eyes up to look at Dean and Cas, “It wasn’t a man and a woman. It was two men.”

“What?” Cas asked loudly.

“She’s got two dads?” Dean’s eyebrows raised so high they almost met his hairline as he turned to look at Cas with a snort, “Well then, I guess we know why April didn’t work out.”

“It was the two of you.”

Dean and Cas both snapped their heads towards Jack, their mouths dropping open at his words.

“Her full name,” Jack took a deep breath, shaking his head, “Is Joanna."

“Wait,” Sam’s eyebrows wrinkled together and his head snapped over to his brother, “As in—“

“No way,” Dean interrupted, shaking his head fervently.

“Yes, Dean,” Jack insisted, nodding enthusiastically, “There’s no way her memories could lie to me, she’s too young.”

“But that means—“

“There’s no way that—“

Just as all four men began talking over each other, the little girl finally stood up behind them, taking a deep breath before speaking.

“My name is Joanna Jude Winchester.”


	4. Chapter 4

_"When floods they came or tides they raised, ever closer became us."_

**DECEMBER 2021**

Goddamn witches.

It was a witch’s fault that had Dean sitting in a mall dressing room, his hands clasped in front of him and his head hung low. They had, per the usual Winchester manner, underestimated their opponent and caused Cas to be cursed. While they killed the witch almost immediately after, it still didn’t negate the curse’s effects on the angel. It of course couldn’t be a simple curse, like his teeth falling out (which he could have fixed on his own), no, it had to be this.

Fuck witches.

Dean heard Sam clear his throat from the doorway, and whipped his head towards his brother with his eyebrows raised.

“Can I help you with something?” he snapped.

“Do you think he…she…Cas, maybe needs a, uh,” Sam cleared his throat, looking around before bringing his hands up to his flat chest and miming, “A bra?”

“Jesus Christ,” Dean groaned, closing his eyes as he shook his head, “I’m not worried about that right now. He…she…we just need clothes that aren’t going to fall off of him. Her. Damn it!”

“You both remember I have no gender on a normal basis, correct?” Cas called from over the top of the dressing room door.

“Yes, Cas,” Dean rolled his eyes, “Are you almost done?”

“Women’s clothing has a lot more buttons and clasps,” Cas responded with a slightly annoyed tone.

“Do you need help?” Sam called out, earning him a hard glare from his brother. Sam held his hands up defensively, “Hey, I don’t mean from me.”

“No, I’m just about finished,” Cas announced.

“I’m going to go grab…Cas something to sleep in,” Sam shook his head and walked away quickly.

Dean let out a long breath through his lips, pulling out his phone and scrolling on social media before he heard the door open. He looked up and choked on his own breath, his phone falling out of his hands and bouncing on the floor over to Cas’ feet. She stepped forward and bent over, and Dean swallowed loudly because the shirt that the sales woman had picked out was low cut and oh my Jack was it revealing. She was also wearing a pair of tight jeans that hung just low enough on her hips.

Cas straightened up and walked over to Dean, his phone in her outstretched hand.

“Are you okay, Dean?” she squinted and tilted her head to the side, her hands hanging loosely by her side.

There’s the normal Cas.

Dean took his phone back and nodded quickly, standing up and walking over to her. She was shorter than normal Cas, but only by a few inches. If Dean had to guess, however, she weighed about fifty pounds less.

“Do I look acceptable in this form?” Cas asked, holding his arms out and turning in a slow circle.

“Yup, you look fine,” Dean cleared his throat and nodded again, then pushed on the space between her shoulders to guide her out of the dressing room. Cas stopped and turned around, leaning up on her tip toes and puckering her lips. Dean avoided her mouth, instead leaning to the side and placing a chaste kiss on her cheek.

“Dean, what’s wrong?” Cas narrowed his eyes, “Does this human form not please you?”

He drew a deep breath, then ran a hand down his face, “No, it’s not that. I just…I know it’s you in there, but I don’t…”

“It’s okay,” Cas smiled up at him, reaching up to place a hand on his jaw, “I understand.”

“You know I, uh…I love you,” Dean clenched his jaw as he leaned into her touch.

“Of course,” she responded with a smile, “I love you too.”

Dean kept staring into those bright blue eyes, licking his bottom lip before faking a cough and walking past her to the main room of the store.

“Let’s go find Sammy.”

———————————————

No matter who they talked to, they couldn’t fix Cas.

Sam had contacted every single human or witch he knew that was well versed in any kind of magic, and no one knew how to change an angel’s vessel back to the male version. They even had called Jack down from heaven to try and fix it, but this magic had been strong enough that even his powers couldn’t change Cas back. It had been two weeks, and they were all currently on a trip across the country to visit a shaman in Maryland who Sam had spoken to on the phone about their predicament.

Dean and Cas were in the motel room after Sam and Jack had decided to go out for a drink, leaving the two of them alone for the first time since Cas had been transformed. Dean initially wanted all of them to go out together, but after Sam brought up the fact that Cas would probably get hit on all night, Dean agreed that he and the angel would stay at the motel.

He was regretting this fact when Cas came out of the bathroom in her new bed time attire. Originally at the mall, Sam had purchased a pair of women’s sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt for Cas to wear to bed, so now although it was the middle of December and they were in the middle of Kentucky, apparently the heater for their motel room was broken in the ‘on’ position, so they had been forced to buy her something lighter.

Which is why when she walked out in a very small tank top and very short shorts, Dean had to look away.

Cas seemed to immediately sense his discomfort and walked over, her eyes narrowed and her head tilted to the side.

“Dean?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah?” he replied, his eyes looking anywhere in the room but Cas as he lifted his beer bottle to his lips and took a long drink.

“We haven’t had sexual intercourse in over two weeks.”

Dean choked on his beverage, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he shook his head and stood up, turning around so his back was facing her.

“Jesus Cas.”

“Dean,” she walked closer and pressed her body against his back lightly, her voice such a low tone that Dean could feel it in her chest echoing into his back. Cas grabbed his shoulders and forced him to turn to face her, grabbing his beer bottle and setting it loudly onto the table. She looked up at him and licked her bottom lip before pulling it between her teeth, her pupils blown with lust. He swallowed loudly, his hands clenched into fists at his side as he forced himself not to reach out and touch her.

“Cas,” he hissed quietly, closing his eyes as she leaned up onto her tip toes and began kissing up the side of his neck.

“Dean,” she whimpered, turning her head just enough to bite into the tough muscle where his neck and shoulder met, “When’s the last time you were inside me?”

Dean felt a shudder travel down his body and land right below his waist, his cock filling rapidly with every word Cas spoke. He was almost always the bottom in their relationship, with a few random surprises over the span of the last year where Cas had wanted to experiment.

“This isn’t right,” Dean shook his head, his eyes still tightly closed as Cas’ hands began to make their way up his torso, lightly teasing over his nipples. “This isn’t you.”

“Dean,” she pulled back, and this time when she narrowed her eyes and glared at him, he really felt like he was looking at his Castiel. Her jaw was set and she had that dark determined look in her eyes that Dean knew meant he didn’t stand a goddamn chance.

“Yeah?” he responded weakly, his lips parting as he suddenly felt the need to breathe through his mouth.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I am a genderless celestial being before you believe me?” she sighed with a sarcastic tone as the index finger on her right hand began tracing the outline of his muscles through his shirt, her left hand resting delicately on his hip.

“I know that,” Dean whispered, trying desperately to focus on evening out his breathing because every time Cas’ hand started dragging down his abdomen, his lungs spasmed as if he couldn’t suck in the oxygen fast enough.

“And as a celestial being, I think you should listen to me when I say that this,” Cas finally let her hand drift down to the waistband of Dean’s sweatpants, one finger squeezing its way between the slight pudge of his stomach and the tight material, “is okay.”

Dean finally let his eyes drift open and instantly regretted it the moment he looked into Cas’ eyes. Her chin was tilted down slightly, which meant she was looking up at him through her ridiculously long eyelashes. She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head, going so far as to bat those damn eyelashes a few times. Dean’s breath hitched as she slid another finger into his pants, still barely brushing the soft tuft of hair there.

“Cas,” he breathed out when those two small fingers pulled his waistband out, exposing his dick to the cool motel room air. He tightened his jaw and narrowed his eyes, finally allowing his hands to reach out and rest on the prominent hip bones that were showing through the way-too-tight tank top.

“You know, Dean,” Cas asked with a false innocence, her tongue sinfully running along the entirety of her lips as she leaned closer to him. “The last person who looked at me like that, I got laid.”

“Fuck yeah you did,” Dean growled before reaching up with one hand and threading his fingers through her hair, pulling their mouths together. Although it was a completely different vessel, the kiss still felt exactly like Cas. Sure, the lips were a little smaller, and the tongue felt a little more petite, but overall it tasted exactly the same as his angel. The subtle hint of cinnamon mixed with an always overwhelming mint flavor that took over Dean’s senses and prevented him from realized that Cas was slowly pulling him towards the bed, their lips never parting.

Dean decided to use this opportunity to be the dominant one for once and reached under Cas’ ass, scooping her up and giving a tight squeeze to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere. Cas wrapped her legs around Dean’s waist and ground down onto his dick, wiggling her hips in circles as he walked them to the bed. When he felt his shins hit against the bed frame he carefully leaned forward, dropping Cas onto the mattress on her back. Dean reached up and peeled his shirt off as quickly as he could, the neck of the new shirt getting stuck around his ears for a brief moment. By the time the material came over his head and he was able to see again Cas had already yanked her own tank top off, and oh man was Dean happy they decided not to worry about buying Cas a bra yet.

It had been several years since Dean had looked at a real pair of tits, and while he knew that this was Cas, it still felt like cheating as his eyes ravaged over the perfect nipples, already hard from the cold air. Cas seemed to catch onto his thought process and sat up abruptly, moving to her knees and crawling towards the edge of the bed where Dean remained standing still.

“Dean,” she whispered, “I promise you, it’s all me in here. No one else.”

“I know,” Dean nodded, taking one quick glance down at her breasts before hesitantly reaching out and touching the taught skin there.

“I’m not,” Cas paused, moaning as Dean slowly moved one hand to a nipple and gave a gentle squeeze, “I, um, I don’t really know what to do in this body.”

“I’ll show you,” Dean leaned forward and placed a quick peck on her lips before dipping his head and placing open mouth kisses along her chest, his hands simultaneously squeezing both nipples before his lips finally engulfed one. Cas threw her head back and gasped, her own hands going to thread into Dean’s hair to hold him in that spot. He sucked and gave little bites and while yes, it had been a while since he had had a women’s breast in his mouth, he wasn’t an amateur by any means.

“Dean,” Cas moaned, falling backwards onto the heels of her feet. Dean followed the movement and maneuvered them so he was braced on top of her, his elbows on either side of her head as they began to lazily kiss. This was when Dean felt most in love with Cas, when they just enjoyed being together, not necessarily in the middle of the throws of passion.

“Dean,” Cas repeated between kisses, the moans going straight to Dean’s rock hard and leaking dick.

“What do you need, angel?” Dean turned his head and whispered into her ear, giving little love bites along her soft jaw line.

“I don’t…I need…” Cas sputtered as Dean ran a hand down her bare side, stopping just above the hem of her shorts.

“Shh,” he leaned his head back and kissed the tip of her nose, “I got you, don’t worry.”

“Okay,” Cas nodded, opening her legs a little to give Dean the hint, “I trust you.”

Dean nodded and gave her one last lingering kiss before slowly moving down her body, his hands continuing to run up and down her sides lightly. He kissed his way down her stomach, rubbing the stubble of his chin against the delicate skin and forcing another moan out of Cas. Once he reached the waistband of her shorts, he stopped and looked up her body in a silent ask for permission.

“Please,” Cas whined, her hips wiggling on their own accord.

Dean moaned deeply and closed his eyes, shaking his head before turning to make eye contact again.

“I’m gonna make you feel so good, Cas.”

Cas lifted her head and watched as Dean grabbed the stretchy waistband of her shorts along with her lace panties with his teeth and teasingly pulled them down, his hands eventually reaching around the backside and helping them over the curve of her ass. He carefully pulled them down over her feet, tossing them off to the side before sliding back up the bed. Cas hissed as Dean mouthed up her thigh, his beard scratching in the best way over the sensitive skin.

When Dean arrived at her core, he reached out and spread her open, licking his bottom lip before giving Cas one more glance. She had her eyes slammed shut and her back arched, sweat beading along the line between her breasts. Dean chuckled for a moment, and Cas quickly lifted her head and glared down at him.

“What is it? Is this body not suitable?” Cas instantly moved to close her legs, leaning up onto the backs of her arms.

“No no no,” Dean said quickly, shaking his head as he reached up and rubbed the top of Cas’ knees, “You just looked so fucked out already and I haven’t even touched you yet.”

“Oh,” Cas responded sheepishly, biting her bottom lip before looking to the side, a blush creeping up her neck to her cheeks, “Well, you know that you can always get me to orgasm quickly, Dean.”

“Oh Cas,” Dean shook his head with a smile before making intense eye contact, slowly prying her knees back apart and scooting up enough to bring his mouth directly above her heat, “You’re about to find out the best part of being in a female body.”

“What’s that?” Cas breathed out, her head falling back onto the mattress as Dean blew a small rush of air onto her clit.

“Multiple orgasms.”

Dean lunged forward and engulfed Cas’ clit with his mouth, sucking lightly as he brought one of his hands up and slowly entered her with one finger. There was no more moaning, only whimpering and yelling and fast breathing and her hands reaching down on their own accord to grip his hair just a little too roughly, holding him in place. Dean moaned when her thighs clenched next to his head, and he realized even if he wanted to stop—which he did not—he wouldn’t be able to.

It only took him a few minutes between his fingers and his mouth to bring Cas to her first screaming orgasm, wetness spilling out of her as he let her ride it out. Dean leaned down to give one last lick from the bottom to the top, and Cas began twitching from overstimulation, her legs finally falling to the side and releasing the death grip on Dean’s head.

He climbed back up to the head of the bed, smirking when he saw Cas’ face. Her eyes were mostly closed, and she had a bright smile on her face. Her short dark hair was messed up, and Dean was wondering if she had been running her own hands through it. He began kissing all over her face, and when he finally reached her mouth she responded eagerly to the taste of herself on his tongue.

“It’s your turn now,” Cas tried to roll them, but Dean held his ground and shook his head.

“No, those noises you were making were too hot,” he chuckled, bending down to nuzzle the side of Cas’ neck with his nose, “I wouldn’t last.”

“Are you sure?” Cas bit her lip to hold back a moan as Dean began sucking at the spot just below her ear.

“Oh yeah,” Dean nodded against her before whispering directly into her ear, his tongue flicking the outside of her earlobe, “I need to be inside you.”

“Then you need to be way more naked,” Cas groaned, reaching down and pushing Dean’s sweatpants to his knees in one quick motion. Dean chuckled and wiggled his legs to kick them off, pushing them to the end of the bed and not really caring where they ended up after that. He guided Cas’ legs open again, and she wrapped them around his waist as he lined himself up with her opening. Dean looked up at her and saw that she had a small flicker of fear in her eyes.

“Hey,” Dean reached up with one hand and rubbed the side of her cheek as he pulled back from her, “We don’t have to do this.”

“I just,” Cas licked her bottom lip, staring straight into Dean’s eyes. He always made Cas feel safe, no matter what she needed to say and this time was no exception. “I don’t know what to expect.”

“Well,” Dean scoffed with a smile, “I can honestly say I don’t know. But it seems to be common knowledge that it feels better than anal.”

“I very much doubt that,” Cas raised an eyebrow, then smirked.

“Is that a challenge, Cas?” Dean leaned back down, rubbing their noses together lightly as her eyes blinked slowly.

“Maybe,” Cas responded, a twinkle in her eyes that Dean most definitely recognized. He narrowed his eyes before leaning forward and kissing her hard, running one hand down her side before reaching to the middle and grabbing his cock, nestling it right against her wet hole.

“You sure?” Dean asked one last time, rubbing his other hand over the top of her hair with a sweet smile on his face.

“Dean, if you don’t penetrate me right, now, I will throw you back into hell.”

“Oh Cas,” Dean visibly shuddered from the typical Cas dirty talk and shook his head with a cocky grin, before leaning down to pull her bottom lip between his teeth, forcing a whimper from deep in her throat before he let it go with a wink, “Let’s see how many times I can make you come.”

————————————————

It was two hours later when Jack almost passed out.

He was sitting at a table in a diner with Sam, having just finished a meal called ‘The All American’ that Sam insisted was not good for him, but Jack argued that since it had bacon and Dean always told him that bacon was ‘god’s food’, he had to eat it.

But then he almost passed out, so maybe Dean was wrong.

Sam jumped out of his booth and rushed over to where Jack had fallen over in his own seat, his hand immediately going to his head.

“Jack? Jack,” Sam said loudly, grabbing the young man’s face and giving it slight taps with his palm. Jack’s eyes sprang back open and he took a few deep breathes before turning and looking at Sam with wide eyes.

“We have to go. Now,” he said quietly, trying to ignore the crowd of people forming near them from his apparent medical event.

Sam furrowed his brow before nodding and sliding out of the booth, pushing the people back to clear a path to the door.

“Are you sure he’s okay?” the waitress asked with a concerned look as Sam and Jack rushed out.

Sam turned back and shot her a quick smile and a nod, “Yeah, just having stomach problems.”

When they reached the impala, Sam and Jack got in without a word until both of their doors were shut. The hunter turned to look at the young man and raised his eyebrows.

“What’s going on, Jack?” he asked as he threw the car into reverse and pulled out of the parking spot.

“A nephilim was just created,” Jack sighed loudly, turning to look out the window, “Angel radio is going crazy. We have to go tell Dean and Castiel.”

“A nephilim?” Sam asked loudly, his eyes widening, “Crap. Is there any way to know what dumbass angel knocked up a human this time?”

“No,” Jack responded quietly, looking down at his hands in his lap.

Sam noticed the odd behavior and sighed before shaking his head quickly, “Hey, that’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” Jack turned and gave him a small smile, “Most nephilim aren’t exactly good.”

“That’s not true,” Sam spoke softly, “It’s just that…their powers make them a little unpredictable.”

“That’s true,” Jack chuckled quietly, “I was a little crazy in the beginning.”

“But now look at you,” Sam reached out and slapped Jack’s shoulder, “You’re the definition of ‘good’ now.”

Jack smiled and nodded slowly before letting his face fall into a more hardened gaze, “So we need to find this new nephilim and try and guide them in the ways of the world.”

“Yeah,” Sam nodded as they pulled into the motel. Once he put the impala in park, he turned to tell Jack to wait a minute before rushing into their room but found that the kid was already opening the door and rushing out.

“Jack wait!” he called out, then cursed as he turned off the car and tried to run after him.

Jack went up to their door and knocked five times, only waiting a few seconds before holding his hand above the handle and using his powers to unlock it. He ignored Sam calling after him and opened the door, his eyes scanning the room.

“Jack?” Dean yelled, pulling the sheet up to make sure he and the sleeping Cas next to him was sufficiently covered.

“Ah,” Jack instantly covered his eyes with his hands but remained in the same spot, “I’m sorry!”

“Jack,” Sam huffed as he walked in, then looked at the bed and shook his head, “Yeah, I kind of figured this would happen. That’s why I told you to wait for me.”

“What’s going on?” Dean scooted to the head of the bed, only slightly surprised that Cas was still asleep next to him.

“There’s a new nephilim,” Jack spoke, his hands still covering his eyes, “Did Cas not hear the angel radio?”

“We were, uh,” Dean chuckled, “Busy.”

“Gross dude,” Sam shook his head, then suddenly his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open before he clamped it shut and tilted his head dramatically.

“What’s your problem?” Dean asked, his nose scrunched up in confusion.

“Dean,” Sam let out a sharp breath, closing his eyes and he turned his head up to the ceiling, “Please tell me you wore a condom.”

“What? Cas and I are both clean, why the hell would I wear a—oh fuck.”


	5. Chapter 5

_So persistent in my ways, here an angel, lying here to stay_.

**JUNE 2020**

All four of the men looked over to the little girl who was now standing in the middle of the dungeon, her arms wrapped around herself.

“What?” Dean’s voice squeaked, and he cleared his throat to try it again, but his voice was still at least two octaves above normal.

“Joanna…Jude…Winchester?” Sam spoke quietly, staring down at her with an eyebrow raised.

Joey nodded, her bright blue eyes moving between all of the men standing in front of her.

“So you know who we are?” Jack tilted his head, his eyes narrowed. She nodded again, sniffing a few times before they all noticed tears forming in her eyes.

“Hey hey,” Dean found his body automatically moving towards her, one hand outstretched. He was about to gently touch her shoulder when she rushed forward, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her nose into his stomach. Dean froze, his head snapping to look at the other occupants. Cas tilted his head as he looked down at the girl, Jack shrugged, and Sam tightened his lips together before rolling his eyes and miming giving a hug. Dean bit the inside of his cheeks before carefully reaching his arms around her shoulders and sighed when he felt her melt into him even more.

“I don’t understand,” Cas shook his head and turned to Jack, “How are Dean and I her parents?”

“I don’t know,” Jack shrugged, furrowing his brow, “I’m telling you, there’s no way she could be lying.”

“Wait a second,” Sam snapped his fingers before pointing to Cas, “Didn’t you say when you were trying to read her mind, you saw a woman with dark hair and blue eyes?”

“Yes,” Cas nodded, “It must have been her mother.”

“Well, kind of,” Sam tilted his head side to side before gesturing to Cas with his hand, “You have dark hair and blue eyes.”

“Are you insinuating I somehow beared a child?” Cas’ nose scrunched up in confusion and he shook his head.

“What if you had to take a female vessel for some reason?” Sam sighed dramatically, “It wouldn’t be the first time, right?”

“But then you’re assuming that if that happened Dean and I would’ve been idiotic enough to get pregnant.”

“Hey,” Dean yelled, and Joey just squeezed his waist tighter at the raise in volume.

“Remember why she’s here, Dean,” Jack spoke softly, looking pointedly down at the child gripping onto him.

“Right,” Dean whispered before letting out a long breath and rubbing the top of her back lightly. He gently pulled her arms away from him and squatted in front of her, smiling sweetly. “Hi Joey.”

“Actually,” Jack interrupted, stepping forward with his finger up, “You call her Jojo. In the future at least.”

Dean turned and raised an eyebrow, then looked back to make eye contact with her bright blue eyes. He tilted his head in question and she nodded.

“Okay, Jojo it is,” he chuckled, reaching up and brushing her hair behind her ear. She gave him a small smile and just as he was about to stand up and talk to Cas, they heard her stomach growling.

“You hungry, kiddo?” Sam asked with a laugh. Joey nodded, her hand going to her stomach.

“Well, Joey,” Cas looked down at her with a serious look, “We can go up to the kitchen and bring you food down here.”

“Or,” Dean looked up at Cas with pursed lips before slowly turned back to Joey, “If she promises not to fly away, we can all go up to the kitchen together.”

“Dean,” Sam cleared his throat, earning him a cocked eyed look from his brother, “Are you sure about that?”

“Sam,” Cas walked over to the hunter, “We can’t just keep her in the dungeon until we find out how to return her to her own time.”

“Yeah, true,” Sam nodded, then turned to look at Jack, “Speaking of that, how the hell are we going to figure this out?”

“I’m not sure,” Jack shook his head, “Maybe in a little while I can try and read her mind again.”

“That sounds good,” Cas nodded, then moved to the back wall to scratch off a piece of the remaining nephilim sigil.

“You ready?” Dean held out a hand, and Joey nodded before sliding her hand into his, waiting until he slowly stood up to walk towards the door of the dungeon. Sam, Cas, and Jack all followed close behind, until Joey stopped and looked up at Cas, holding her other hand out for him. The angel opened his mouth, then looked up at Dean, who shrugged. Cas looked back down to the young girl who seemed to have grown impatient and instead grabbed Cas’ hand and pulled him forward with Dean.

Sam bit his lip to try and stop from laughing, shaking his head as he turned to look at Jack. He was expecting the young man to be confused, but instead he had a bright smile on his face as he watched Dean and Cas turn into the hallway with Joey.

“Jack?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Since Castiel is my father,” he looked down at the floor sheepishly for a moment before turning his head and peeking up at Sam with one eye, “Doesn’t that mean she’s my little sister?”

Just when Sam opened his mouth to respond, they heard a loud noise from the hallway. The two of them ran out and saw Dean and Cas, both with surprised looks on their faces.

“Where’s Joey?” Sam asked loudly, walking towards them.

“Damn it,” Dean shouted, turning and slapping the wall.

“She let go of our hands and ran ahead of us,” Cas began to explain, “Then she disappeared.”

“She’s still in the bunker,” Jack closed his eyes and nodded, “I can sense her.”

“Well where is she?” Dean turned and clenched his jaw.

Jack shook his head, “I don’t know, it’s not like I have a tracker on her. I can just tell she’s close.”

“Let’s split up,” Sam held up a hand when Dean opened his mouth to undoubtedly say something sarcastic and rude.

“Fine,” Dean grumbled, pointing a finger at Cas, “You’re with me.”

“Uh, Dean?” Sam raised his eyebrows, “That’s probably not the best plan.”

Dean turned around and glared at his brother before crossing his arms, “And why not?”

“I’m assuming because the two of you arguing is what brought Joey here in the first place and now you’re very angry and when you’re angry you take it out on Castiel,” Jack responded, shrugging nonchalantly.

“I don’t…that’s not…fine,” Dean finally gave in and rolled his eyes, “I’ll go with Jack.”

“Okay,” Jack nodded and walked towards the hunter, giving him a bright smile. Dean cocked a confused brow at him before shaking his head and walking towards the stairs.

Once Jack and Dean were walking down a random hallway alone, Jack began clearing his throat every few seconds. Dean ignored it at first, but finally stopped in his tracks and spun around, putting an open palm on Jack’s chest.

“Do you need something?”

“Well, it’s just…” Jack trailed off before clearing his throat one last time, trying to avoid the older man’s strong gaze, “You…and Cas—“

“I’m gonna stop you right there,” Dean held up his other hand, closing his eyes, “I don’t know what you think you saw in the kid’s head, but—“

“And now I’m going to stop you,” Jack interrupted, lowering his chin to glare at Dean, “She’s only eight months old, and she’s the child of a seraph. There’s no way she could’ve fabricated her memories.”

“Okay, but—“

“No, Dean,” Jack shook his head, “You and Castiel are her parents. Once I’m able to penetrate her mind, I can figure out how it happened.”

“I’m not entirely sure I want to know,” Dean mumbled, his hand finally dropping from the front of Jack’s chest.

Jack nodded, then walked around Dean with a small smile fighting to appear on his face, “I can say with complete honesty I’m not entirely surprised.”

“Excuse me?” Dean spun around on his heels, his face wrinkled in confusion.

Jack merely shrugged as he continued walking, “Never mind, let’s keep looking.”

“Jack,” Dean growled, moving swiftly after the nephilim. Just as he reached him, they heard a loud banging coming from the kitchen around the corner. They ran towards the doorway and met Sam and Cas just outside, all four looking at each other with concern before Dean and Cas rushed in.

“What the…” Dean muttered, his mouth dropped open and his eyebrows raised. Cas let out a long breath, shaking his head as he put his hands on his hips. Sam looked over their heads and immediately bit his lip to stop from laughing.

Joey was sitting at the table, eating a bowl of Jack’s cereal. What caused the men’s reactions, however, was the milk carton sideways on the counter surrounded by a giant white puddle, and the box of cereal that had apparently exploded onto the floor.

“Um, Joey?” Cas stepped forward, wincing when he heard the sound of the cereal crunching under his shoes, “What happened?”

“It wouldn’t open,” she said meekly, shrugging slightly before taking another large bite.

“So you, what,” Dean scoffed as he walked towards her, a slightly disapproving look on his face, “disintegrated the bag?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, ducking her head down.

“No no,” Sam spoke quickly, holding his hands out as he pushed past Cas to rush towards her, giving Dean a quick glare, “It’s okay.”

“You promise?” she looked past Sam at Dean, her brows turned down and her eyes shining with the hint of tears forming. Sam sighed and turned around slowly, gesturing with his head to the little girl when Dean shrugged at him, shaking his head. Sam dropped his shoulders dramatically before tilting his head and tightening his lips together, giving his brother one of his signature bitch faces.

“Dean,” Cas whispered, and when the hunter turned to look at him, Cas had literally the exact same expression that Joey had on her face.

Dean closed his eyes and pursed his lips, taking a slow breath before opening them and turning his head to look at the child was still giving him the world’s best-worst puppy dog eyes. He exhaled slowly before chuckling to himself and shaking his head.

“It’s fine, Jojo,” he looked up and locked eyes with her, surprised that the nickname came out of his lips so freely. She instantly smiled brightly for the first time since she had arrived, and it simultaneously broke everyone’s hearts.

“So Joey,” Sam smiled down at her as he walked over to the table and sat across from her, “You know who we all are?”

Joey nodded as she chewed another massive bite, then swallowed loudly before pointing to him.

“You’re Uncle Sammy,” she smiled, then turned and pointed at Jack, “That’s my big brother Jack.”

Dean and Cas both raised their eyebrows and turned to look at the young man, who was beaming with pride behind them.

“And they’re my dads.”

These words caused the two of them to once again whip around with confused looks on their faces. Although it was already known, to hear it come out of her mouth was an entirely different story.

“Good job,” Sam chuckled, watching as Dean and Cas kept looking at each other without the other noticing, “Now, do you think you can tell us how to get you back to your time?”

Joey’s face fell and she turned her head down, looking at her now empty bowl of cereal, “You don’t want me here either.”

“No, Joey,” Cas interjected, stepping forward quickly, “That’s not it at all.”

The angel moved so he was standing directly next to the chair Joey was sitting in, and looked back at Dean before resting a hesitant hand on her shoulder. Joey sniffed loudly a few times before beginning to cry, dropping her face into her hands. Dean cleared his throat loudly, then widened his eyes as Cas looked at him worriedly. The hunter groaned and rolled his eyes before miming a hug, having to do it a few times before the angel got the hint.

Cas finally nodded and leaned down, slowly putting his arms around her small body. Once his fingers linked on the opposite side of her shoulders, Joey turned and leapt into his chest, her legs wrapping around his waist and her arms tightly squeezing his neck. Cas froze and turned only his head to look at Dean, his eyes wide in fear. At first Dean was amused at the situation, but once he realized Joey was full out sobbing now, his face hardened and he rushed over to them.

Dean first grabbed Cas’ hands and placed one under her thigh to help hold her up, the other around her waist. The hunter then began rubbing soothingly along her upper back, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.

“Shh, it’s okay Jojo,” Dean repeated, either not noticing or not caring how close he was to Cas. Joey was essentially sandwiched between them now, and the back of Cas’ hand was pressed against Dean’s chest.

“Why did she say we don’t want her here ‘either’?” Sam whispered once he had walked over to Jack.

“I’m not sure,” Jack shook his head with a furrowed brow, “I wasn’t able to hear what they were fighting about in the future, I could only see them yelling.”

“Okay,” Sam said quietly, looking on fondly as Dean and Cas continually tried to sooth the child.

“I can’t imagine them not wanting her,” Jack whispered so lowly that Sam almost missed it. When he turned to look at the young man, his face was turned down in a sad manner as he looked at Dean and Cas.

“I very much doubt that’s what the problem was,” Sam reached out and placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder, giving him a soft smile before taking a deep breath and turning back to Dean and Cas.

“Joey,” Cas whispered, leaning his head back to try and pry hers off of his shoulder with his chin, “Joey, look up, ol monon.”

She perked up at the Enochian coming from Cas’ lips, pulling her face away from his shirt and looking at him with a sad smile. Dean walked around to face her, standing directly next to Cas as he reached out and gently wiped her tears from her cheeks with his thumb.

“There she is,” Dean smiled, poking her nose once before dropping his hands and shaking his head with a loud clearing of his throat. The hunter backed away and nodded to Cas, “You can probably put her down now.”

The angel looked at Joey and smiled before carefully sliding her down to the floor. She kept a grip on one of his hands, leaning most of her body weight onto the side of his thigh.

Dean walked over to Sam, intermittently roughly shaking his head, “Dude, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“What are you talking about?” Sam cocked an eyebrow.

“I don’t know,” Dean reached up and rubbed the back of his neck before gesturing towards Cas and Joey with his head, “Why am I acting like that? I don’t comfort people.”

“Yes you do,” Jack insisted with a quick nod, “Well, not usually like that, you’re more of a rough punch-in-the-arm ‘hey you’re doing good kid’ kind of guy—“

“We got it Jack,” Sam smiled down at him briefly before looking back to Dean, “Maybe it’s because you’re her father?”

“In the future though,” Dean hissed, “And even that I’m still not believing.”

“Well once I read her mind again I can find out the whole story,” Jack replied quietly, glancing over to where Cas was bent down and listening to Joey whisper something in his ear.

“What’s going on?” Dean asked loudly, noticing the secret conversation the two were having.

Cas slowly stood up, then looked down at Joey with his eyebrows raised in question. She nodded enthusiastically, and Cas sighed.

“She said,” he paused, giving her one last glance before looking up at the hunters across the room, “That she’ll let Jack read her mind if we all watch a movie first.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Dean shook his head in disbelief, his face contorted in a mix of confusion and intrigue.

“She wants us to...watch a movie together?” Sam raised an eyebrow and placed his hands on his hips. Joey nodded, a small smile on her face as she looked over at Sam.

“I like movies,” Jack announced, a goofy smile on his face as his gaze moved around the men in the room before landing on the child, “What movie do you want to watch?”

Joey bit her bottom lip before smirking and disappearing, a strong wind blowing the mens’ hair in her wake.

“Goddamn it,” Dean rolled his eyes as he groaned, “Not again.”

“Where could she have gone?” Cas asked, an obvious worried tone in his voice. Just as they all moved towards the hallway to look for her, Joey appeared in the doorway with a gummy smile.

“You gotta quit doing that,” Dean pointed a rough finger at her as he walked closer. Joey furrowed her brow and crossed her arms, looking up at him with a tightened jaw.

“Dean’s right, Joey, you can’t—“

“I can,” she interrupted Cas, her eyes never leaving Dean’s. The hunter crossed his own arms to mirror her stance as he moved to stand directly in front of her, their staring contest intensified.

“Listen up kiddo,” Dean lowered his voice, “You have to listen to us.”

Joey pursed her lips in thought, looking up to the ceiling for a brief moment before snapping her eyes back to Dean’s face, “Mmm no.”

Dean’s eyebrows raised and he cleared his throat when he heard Sam and Jack holding back laughter from behind him. He shot them a quick glare before shaking his head and bending over at the waist, getting on Joey’s level before speaking again.

“You are, apparently, my kid,” Dean sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment before reopening them, “Which means you need to do what I say.”

Joey let out a long breath and dropped her arms to her sides, lowering her chin to look at the ground. She shook her head slowly before raising it to look at Dean, bringing a soft hand up to rest on his cheek. Dean swallowed as he looked into her bright blue eyes, feeling another strong wave of emotion overtaking him. Just as she gave him a soft smile, she lifted her hand from his face and her eyes flashed silver.

“No,” she announced again before disappearing.

The laughter that Sam had been holding back was now being released loudly as he bent over, one hand on Jack’s shoulder. Dean slowly straightened up and turned to glare at his brother. Jack was chuckling softly, nodding his head.

“I like her.”

“Joey,” Cas bellowed suddenly, closing one eye and getting lost in thought for a moment before nodding abruptly and shouting, “Joanna Jude Winchester, come in here.”

Dean snapped his head to look at Cas with his face scrunched up in confusion, “What the—“

He was interrupted when Joey suddenly reappeared directly in front of Cas, looking up at him with her arms plastered along her sides.

“Don’t fly away from us anymore,” Cas said softly, tilting his chin down to look into her eyes that matched his own.

“Okay Dad,” she whispered, nodding quickly.

“Wha—“ Dean scoffed, throwing his arms out to the side.

“I guess we know who she listens to better in the future,” Sam leaned over and whispered to Jack, trying to hold back his laughter as Dean continued glaring at the back of the the little girl’s head.

“Why do you keep leaving, Joey?” Cas bent over at the waist and tilted his head.

“I was trying to find your tv,” she shrugged and looked at the ground, running the tip of her shoe along the ground shyly.

“Well, maybe you should use your words next time,” Cas pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows.

“Ol mooah, gahe,” she whispered.

“Hey hey,” Dean held up a finger, walking over to try and gather Cas and Joey’s attention, “No talking in enochian.”

“What did she say?” Sam nudged Jack’s arms with his elbow, watching attentively as Dean argued with Cas.

“She basically just apologized,” Jack nodded, his brow furrowed, “Gahe means father.”

“Think they’ll notice if we leave?” Sam chuckled quietly, crossing his arms. Jack smirked and shrugged before he noticed that Joey was nervously biting her bottom lip as she watched Dean and Cas whisper to each other heatedly.

“Guys,” Jack cleared his throat loudly, then gestured with his head down to the worried little girl.

Dean and Cas both whipped their heads to look at Jack, then together glanced down at Joey. Dean drew a deep breath and took a small step towards her, his hand reaching out and rubbing along the top of her hair.

“Jojo, it’s okay,” he said soothingly, leaning down and running his hand around to the bottom of her jaw, lifting her chin to force her to look at him, “We’re not really fighting.”

“I don’t like it when you guys fight,” Joey whispered.

“I know,” Dean nodded, dropping his hand and straightening up to throw a casual arm over Cas’ shoulders, “But see? We’re fine. Now let’s go watch that movie.”

“What movie are we watching, Joey?” Jack asked as they all walked together into the ‘Dean cave’.

“I want The Lion King,” she smiled as she grabbed Cas and Dean’s hands and led them to the loveseat Sam had recently bought off Craigslist, shoving them onto it next to each other. Dean cleared his throat and wiggled to the side as far as he could, but their thighs were still plastered against each other. He turned to glance at Cas, who was sitting perfectly still with his hands splayed open on his knees. The angel looked over and shot him a small smile before looking back to where Sam was pulling up Netflix on the tv.

“I don’t think our Netflix has The Lion King, Joey,” Sam mumbled as he scrolled, biting his bottom lip with one hand on his hip.

“Can’t you buy it?” she looked up at him, her head craning back to meet his gaze.

“Well, I...”

“Please Uncle Sammy?” Joey asked quietly, a slight whine to her voice as she pouted her bottom out and looked up at him.

Sam let out a long breath, his tongue wiggling around the insides of his cheeks before he shook his head and rolled his eyes, pointing the streaming device at the television.

“Wow, Sammy,” Dean snorted from the couch, leaning back into the cushions and throwing his arms over the back.

“Shut up,” Sam muttered, throwing him a quick glare before smiling down at Joey, “Go sit down, kiddo.”

Joey smiled and nodded once before spinning on her heels to look at her options. Jack was sitting in one of the lounge chairs off to the side, and Dean and Cas were taking up the entire loveseat. She sprinted over to the sofa and jumped onto Cas, making the angel grunt from the sudden weight on his lap. Cas held his hands out to the side as she maneuvered herself, finally finding a comfortable position squished slightly between the two men but still somehow on top of both of them. Dean chuckled and moved a hand down to ruffle the top of her head before slinging it along the back of the couch, this time his fingers accidentally brushing against Cas’ shoulder. Sam moved over to the remaining chair and sat down once the movie started, giving Dean a playful smirk when he saw how the three of them were positioned on the sofa.

Joey wiggled a little more before she looked to her sides and reached out, grabbing one of each of their hands and pulling them into her lap, intertwining their fingers with her own. She leaned over and rested her head on Dean’s arm, pulling her legs up to lay across Cas’ legs.

Throughout the movie, every single time Joey got restless and repositioned, it somehow brought Dean and Cas closer. Because she insisted on holding their hands, every slight movement pulled their shoulders down towards each other. By the time ‘Can you feel the love tonight’ started playing, their cheeks were so close above Joey’s head that if either of them turned, they would have no room between them.

“I wanna sit with Bubba,” Joey suddenly announced, sliding out from in between them and falling to her feet.

“Bubba?” Dean furrowed his brow in confusion, the name causing him to not realize that he and Cas were still in the same compromising position even though Joey had left.

Joey ignored him and walked over to Jack, grabbing a hold of his shirt to help pull herself up onto his lap. He looked down at her with his eyebrows scrunched together as she wiggled around getting comfortable, finally letting out a long breath and resting her head against his chest. Jack looked up at Sam, who was smiling as he watched the interaction, then over to Dean and Cas who were still leaning against each other on the couch.

“You call Jack ‘Bubba’?” Dean snorted, his shoulders bouncing with the movement and causing him to realize the position he was in. He cleared his throat and instantly straightened his back, scooting his butt as far to the opposite side of the couch as he could.

Joey snapped her head over to glare at him for a brief moment before sitting up on Jack’s lap and looking up at his face, one hand reaching up towards his head. Jack’s eyes widened, causing her to freeze for a moment. She smiled at him and he stole a quick glance at Cas before nodding. When Joey touched his temple, both of their eyes lit up brightly. It only lasted for a brief moment before she lowered her hand, her silver eyes slowly dimming back to their usual blue.

Jack chuckled and leaned over, placing a quick kiss on her forehead before she snuggled back into his chest.

“What was that?” Sam asked quietly from across the room.

“She was showing me a memory,” Jack smiled fondly, one hand coming up to rub gently along Joey’s back.

“And?” Dean said loudly, his eyebrows raised.

“When she was little, she couldn’t say ‘brother’ correctly,” Jack responded, turning to watch the movie as he let his head fall back onto the chair.


	6. Chapter 6

_All the promises at sundown, I meant them like the rest_.

**FEBRUARY 2022**

It had been two months.

Eight weeks.

Sixty days that Dean had to deal with the love of his life being stuck in a body that was not his own. They had argued more in those two months than ever before in their entire lives, and for Dean and Castiel, that was certainly saying something.

The main issue that caused the disagreements, however, was not directly related to the sexual organs of a certain angel. If they were being honest with themselves, it allowed them to try some new things in the bedroom that their previous beings wouldn’t have been able to perform.

No, the problem was the nephilim growing inside of Cas.

They knew from the experience with Kelly that nephilim grew much quicker than a completely human baby, but even so it was alarming to Dean how much Cas had changed. With help from Sam’s research, they knew that Cas would be expected to deliver the nephilim by mid May, which meant that Cas was already starting to show, just a small little bump at the bottom of her previously flat stomach.

Sam had been searching every day for a reversal spell for Cas, calling every witch they had ever been in contact with. He even tried summoning Rowena once, but was instead met with a demon who was basically the hell version of ‘leave a message after the beep’.

Jack had tried to help as well, but between being worried about the power of the baby nephilim and not wanting to injure it, he told them he was refusing to try anything drastic.

The longer the pregnancy went on, the worse it got. Cas was hungry all the time, and kept craving bacon during the middle of the night. Sam had been woken up multiple times to Dean in the kitchen at two in the morning frying some bacon, Cas sitting on the stool with her arms crossed grumpily.

Aside from the intense hunger, Cas also experienced the normal hormonal mood swings that came with growing another life force. Dean didn’t understand how he could say one word to her and she would burst out crying, so lately he had decided to just not speak and instead help Sam figure out how to _fix Cas_.

It was February seventeenth that Cas walked into the library, her fists clenched at her sides. Sam and Dean were sitting at the table surrounded by various books, and the former was the first to notice her.

Sam cleared his throat and when Dean looked up at him, gestured with his head to the angel standing in the doorway. Cas’ lips were pressed tightly together and her bright blue eyes were narrowed as she glared at the back of Dean’s head.

“Are…you… _kidding_ me?” Cas spoke slowly, her voice low and coated with gravel as she took small steps towards the table.

“And that’s my cue,” Sam raised his eyebrows once as he pushed his chair from the table, pulling books into his arms as fast as he could.

“What’s the problem now?” Dean moaned and spun around in the chair, rolling his eyes.

“You think you can control whether I go on hunts?” Cas crossed her arms and pursed her lips as she glared down at him.

Dean snapped his head over to where his brother was rushing towards the war room, “You _told_ her?”

Sam stopped and turned around, taking a deep breath with an apologetic smile on his face. “If it’s any consolation, it was an accident.”

Dean glared at Sam before shaking his head and slowly pushing out of his chair to stand and face Cas. Sam took this as his hint to leave and ran out of the room quickly.

“Listen, Cas—“

“No, Dean, _you_ listen,” Cas growled as she came toe to toe with Dean, staring up at him, “I know that because I’m in a female vessel now you have this misperceived notion that I’m somehow weaker, but I can assure you that this is not the case.”

“Jesus Christ Cas, it’s not because you’re a girl,” Dean rolled his eyes and threw his arms out to the side, “It’s because you’re fucking pregnant.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Cas shook her head, “This is not a human baby, nothing can happen that would injure it.”

“It’s not the...that’s not what I’m worried about,” Dean’s eyes flicked down to her stomach before looking back up to meet her ice blue eyes.

“Then what is it?” Cas asked, hands on her hips.

Dean took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly through his nose as he stared down at Cas. Her lips were pursed in anger, her eyebrows raised as she waited impatiently for his response.

“You have your guard down, Cas.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she shook her head abruptly, “If anything my senses are heightened.”

“Fine,” Dean scoffed dramatically, shaking his head, “You wanna go on the vamp hunt with us, fine.”

“Thank you,” Cas nodded once, her face still hardened.

“But,” Dean jabbed a finger at her face, “You stay by me at. All. Times.”

It was Cas’ turn to roll her eyes as she reached up and swatted Dean’s finger away from her nose, “Stop acting like a stereotypical baby daddy.”

“Baby daddy?” Dean’s brow furrowed, “Okay first off, where the hell did you learn that term? Secondly, is that seriously what you think of me?”

Cas let out an exasperated sigh, “Are you not responsible for the offspring? Would you prefer fetus father?”

“Can we just drop this discussion?” Dean moaned and threw his head back, closing his eyes.

“Fine,” Cas turned on her heels and marched towards the back hallway, “I’m going to pack.”

“You’re leaving?” Dean yelled, his voice cracking with terrifying concern as his feet automatically began chasing after her.

Cas spun around and rolled her eyes dramatically, “No. I’m packing for the hunt, Dean.”

“Oh,” he whispered and bit the inside of his cheeks nervously as he quickly glanced at the floor.

Cas let out a long breath, her lips pressed together as she looked up at him. She reached out and ran her long fingers along his jaw line, trying to bring his gaze back to meet hers.

“Dean,” she spoke quietly but with a tone stern enough that Dean slowly looked up.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“I’m not leaving you,” Cas gave him a small smile as she lowered her hand and turned around to walk towards the hall, “Especially not now.”

“What?” Dean called out, “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

Cas closed her eyes and took a deep breath, instantly regretting the words she let come out, “I just meant that I’m not leaving you since I am with child.”

“So if you weren’t pregnant, would you be leaving?” Dean furrowed his brow and walked slowly towards her.

“That’s not what I meant,” she shook her head, “I just want—“

“You just want to _leave me_ ,” Dean nodded, crossing his arms as he glared down at her.

“Dean, stop,” she huffed, her eyes narrowed, “You’re being childish.”

Dean took a deep breath before shaking his head roughly and turning around, storming in the opposite direction.

“Where are you going?”

“To wash the impala,” he shouted over his shoulder as he walked down the steps into the war room, “Or do I need adult supervision?”

Cas rolled her eyes and shook her head before turning and heading towards their bedroom to pack their bags.

It was several hours later that the three of them were in the car on their way to Billings, Montana. Sam had initially tried to get into the backseat, which is where he had been riding for the last several months, but Cas insisted that he ride in the front with Dean. Sam hated when they got into these fights, but even more so when they all had to be stuck in a car together for hours at a time. Dean had at least turned on some music, but the lack of communication was awful.

Finally Sam cleared his throat and turned in his seat to look at Cas, “How are you feeling?”

“In regard to what?” she turned and looked at him with a slight tilt of the head that reminded Sam of Cas’ old vessel.

“The um…the baby?” Sam chuckled softly.

“It’s not a baby,” Dean muttered so quietly that only Sam could hear him over the music.

“The pregnancy is going fine,” Cas nodded, her hands reaching down to rest over the small swell of her abdomen, “I’m not experiencing nausea anymore, and the fatigue has subsided greatly.”

“That’s good,” Sam smiled and nodded, “Do you have any names picked out?”

“No,” Dean responded, loud enough this time that all occupants heard him.

“Dean doesn’t, but I do,” Cas turned her head to look out the side window, her jaw clenched tightly.

Dean leaned forward and turned the volume of the radio up, earning him a look from his brother. Sam shook his head before rearranging himself to face forward again, biting his bottom lip.

“I think we should find a motel for the night,” Sam announced, his voice loud to try and be heard over the music.

“We’re fine,” Dean shook his head, “It’s only another five hours.”

“You need to sleep, Dean,” Sam reached out and switched the radio completely off, “You were up all night last night.”

Dean’s eyes flicked to the rearview mirror for a brief moment before he took a deep breath. He had been up all night, researching ways to transform Cas back into the original male vessel. He had snuck out of their bedroom after Cas fell asleep, and then back in before she woke up in the morning. She didn’t seem to hear the conversation, her eyes still watching the trees they drove by with her head resting against the window.

“Fine,” Dean grumbled, pursing his lips, “Find us a place.”

Luckily for them there was a motel only a few miles off of the interstate at the next exit. They pulled into the parking lot and when Dean looked into his mirror, he sighed when he saw that Castiel’s eyes were closed and her mouth had fallen open slightly. He reached out and gently slapped a hand onto Sam’s chest, gesturing with his head to the sleeping angel.

Sam nodded before slowly opening his car door, “I’ll go get us a room.”

Dean leaned his head against the seat, closing his eyes. He took a couple deep breathes and watched as Sam went into the lobby, coming out only a few minutes later with a key dangling between his fingers as he held his hand up. Dean nodded and opened his door, sliding out before moving to back door. He pulled on the handle and slowly opened it, reaching one hand in to grab Cas’ head before it could fall out of the car. She murmured for a moment and opened her eyes, blinking rapidly as Dean reached under her legs and scooped her up into his arms.

“Dean, I can walk,” she mumbled, shaking her head against his chest as he kicked the door shut and began walking towards Sam.

“Shut up,” he whispered, maneuvering her a little better so her arms could wrap around his neck.

Sam opened the door to their room, and Dean nodded at him as he carefully walked in, automatically moving towards the bed closest to the bathroom. While angels didn’t usually need to use the restroom, Cas had found that the human half of the baby was causing her to need to urinate at a frequent rate.

Dean laid her down on top of the covers before reaching under her back and pulling the blankets out from under her, then resting them back on top.

“I’m still upset with you,” she groaned as she turned to her side and pulled the pillow under her head.

“Yeah yeah, me too,” Dean leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, “But I still love you.”

“I love you too,” Cas yawned loudly before falling back to sleep.

————————————

“Damn it, Cas!”

Sam looked into the rearview mirror, his eyes worried as he looked at his brother. It was two days later, and when they finally had narrowed down the small vamp nest and rushed in, Cas ended up getting injured.

Which is why Dean was currently sitting in the backseat, Cas’ head on his lap as she laid across the cushion, dried blood covering most of her shirt and the bottom half of her face.

“Dean I told you I’m _fine_ ,” Cas tried to sit up for the third time in the last thirty seconds, only to be stopped when Dean’s hands pushed down on her shoulders, keeping her in the same position.

“I don’t care what you say right now,” Dean growled, staring down at her, “I _told_ you to stay by me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Cas crossed her arms, turning to lay on her back, “You’re right, I should’ve just let the two of you be murdered or worse, turned.”

“They had _knives,_ Cas,” Dean shouted, shaking his head roughly, “You…you were sliced open.”

“But I healed,” Cas yelled back.

“Not with your own powers,” Dean turned and slammed the palm of his hand against the inside panel of the door, looking out the window, “Your eyes turned a different color.”

“Then it was the baby.”

“It’s not a baby!” Dean suddenly shouted, turning and yelling down directly into Cas’ face. She froze and moved to sit up, this time using her angel strength to shove Dean’s hands away from her.

“Sam, stop the car,” she hissed.

“What?” Sam turned his head with a confused look.

“I said _stop the car_ ,” Cas growled, unlocking the door and opening it before Sam had completely skidded to a stop. She scrambled out quickly, slamming the door shut behind her.

Dean immediately got out his own side and ran towards her, “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“Away from you,” Cas yelled. Dean rushed up and grabbed her wrist, only to have her instantly yank it from his grasp.

“Cas, stop,” Dean groaned, “I don’t understand why we keep having this argument.”

“Because, Dean,” Cas spun around and glared up at him, pointing to her stomach, “ _This_ is a baby. Two people created a new life, you and me.”

“But we’re not just two normal people, Castiel,” Dean shouted, throwing his arms out angrily, “You’re an angel for god’s sake. Therefore, this is not. A. Baby.”

“I’m done arguing with you,” Cas shook her head before turning her face to the sky and closing her eyes, taking a deep breath.

“What are you doing?” Dean asked, his face scrunched up in confusion. Suddenly he heard the tell tale sound of wings behind him, and when he whipped around he saw Jack standing there with his hand up.

“Hello Dean,” he sighed, then walked over to Cas with a concerned look in his eyes.

“Take me to the bunker, Jack,” she nodded, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder.

“Jack, don’t,” Dean growled loudly, “She got hurt earlier, she could still be—“

“Jack will heal me if I need it,” Cas interrupted, shooting him an irritated look, “Goodbye Dean.”

Just as Dean tried to rush forward to grab onto her, Jack and Cas disappeared.

“God _damn_ it,” he yelled, turning and throwing his fists to the sky, “And yeah, Jack, I’m talking to you!”

Dean drove the rest of the way home, speeding the entire time. Sam sat in the passenger seat, one hand gripping the bottom of the seat and the other holding onto the door handle for dear life. He knew better than to suggest they stop this time, or to offer to drive.

It was the middle of the night when Dean brought the impala barreling into the garage, barely throwing it into park before he jumped out of the car and began storming inside. Sam just shook his head and slowly got out, prepared to unload the car as slow as possible so he didn’t have to listen to the inevitable fight that was about to happen.

Dean stomped down the hallway to his bedroom, prepared to slam the door open. As he turned around the corner, he saw Jack walking towards him with a scared look on his face.

The young man held his hands up defensively as Dean stalked towards him, his eyes narrowed, “Cas just wanted to be brought back here, I wasn’t choosing between the two of you, I swear.”

“Where is she?” Dean tucked his chin down to stare into the nephilim’s eyes.

“Your room,” Jack said quietly, blinking as Dean’s hot breath was blown into his face.

Dean took a deep breath before letting it out slowly, closing his eyes. He took a small step back before reopening his eyes and looking at the young man, “She’s okay?”

“Yes,” Jack nodded, “I even convinced Cas to let me make sure everything was in order, and it is.”

“Okay,” Dean nodded slowly, looking past Jack down the hallway, “Thanks, kid.”

“You’re welcome,” Jack smiled, “Pray if you need me.”

Dean sighed as Jack disappeared, then shook his head swiftly and walked towards the door of his bedroom. He stopped outside, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breathes. While he was still obviously angry and upset with Cas, he knew that they needed to have a real conversation about what had happened and not just continue arguing.

When he opened the door, he was surprised to find Cas sitting on the foot of the bed, her hands on her stomach. She looked up and when she realized who was standing there, rolled her eyes and stood up, walking to the side of the bed before flopping down onto her side.

“Seriously?” Dean scoffed as he moved inside and closed the door behind him, “You’re just going to ignore me now?”

“Yes.”

“Well too bad,” Dean marched over and fell onto the wooden chair in the corner of the room, scooting it close to the edge of the bed.

“Dean, it’s two in the morning, I don’t want to talk,” Cas groaned, rolling over to her other side.

“Again,” Dean sighed and stood up, crawling over top of her body to lay next to her, placing his face mere inches from his own, “Too bad.”

“Dean,” Cas moaned, rolling her eyes as she sat up and rolled to her feet. Luckily for Dean, Cas’ gait was slightly off balance from her quickly growing stomach so he was able to jump off of the bed and block the door when she tried to leave.

“Cas, we have to talk about this,” he said quietly, his eyes subconsciously flicking down to her stomach.

“There’s nothing to talk about, Dean,” Cas shrugged, her eyes wide in anger as she gestured with her hands to her abdomen, “You don’t want this, you’ve made that abundantly clear.”

“That’s not what this is about, I just—“

“No, that _is_ what this is about,” Cas interrupted, stepping forward with narrowed eyes, “You don’t want the baby, you don’t want me as a female, you don’t want _me_.”

“No,” Dean responded instantly, holding a finger up, “That is not true and you know it.”

“Then what is your _fucking_ problem?” she shouted, her eyes wide now with a pleading look as tears began to form in them.

Dean was taken aback from her use of the cuss, and swallowed loudly. There had only been a select few times that he had heard Cas curse in anger, and it never ended well.

“I’m…” Dean shook his head, his shoulders slumping as he looked directly into her blue eyes, “I’m worried.”

“About what?” Cas snapped, “Raising a child? The fact that it’s a nephilim? Being a father? What?”

“I’m worried about you, dumbass,” Dean suddenly shouted, “Do you not remember what _happened_ to Kelly when she gave birth? She fucked died. Right then and there. Do you honestly think that I haven’t been worrying about that since the minute we found out you were pregnant?”

Cas tilted her head to the side, her brow knit together as she let out a slow breath, “Dean, I really wish you would’ve talked to me about this.”

“Yeah?” Dean scoffed, raising his eyebrows, “And what good would that have done?”

“Well, _dumbass_ ,” Cas narrowed her eyes, “I would’ve told you that Sam and I looked into the history of nephilim, and found out that there were two previous angels that gave birth in a female vessel, and because they weren’t human, they didn’t perish during the birth.”

“Wait, seriously?” Dean asked quickly, his brows turning down in relief.

Cas nodded, “Yes. That’s why I wasn’t concerned about being pregnant.”

“Oh,” Dean mumbled, biting the insides of his cheeks nervously, “Well, okay then.”

“Are you still upset with me?” Cas tilted her head to the side, this time with a much more playful tone as she looked up at him through her long eyelashes.

“Well yeah,” Dean shrugged as she walked towards him and began trailing a single finger across his chest, making his breath catch in his throat, “You…you called Jack and you—Cas stop, I’m trying to…ahh—“

He gasped as her finger traveled south, barely poking into the waistband of his jeans as she looked up at him innocently.

“Cas,” Dean moaned, looking down at her and gulping loudly when he saw that her pupils were blown with lust.

“Yes Dean?” she whispered, her other hand reaching to the back of his neck to play with the short hair there.

As they stood there, chests heaving and eyes boring into each other, a sudden knock on the door brought them back to the current reality.

“What?” Dean snapped, his gaze still focused on Castiel as she bit her bottom lip.

“It’s me,” Sam’s voice sounded enthusiastic, and as Dean turned to unlock the door Cas lifted her hand and used her grace to fling the door open quickly. Dean snapped his head back with it tilted to the side and his eyes narrowed.

“Really?”

Cas shrugged, her eyebrows raised with a smirk on her face, “I just wanted to remind you of who exactly I am.”

“I need you two to stop arguing for five minutes and pay attention,” Sam entered, one hand in the air defensively and the other holding two tattered old books.

“What is it, Sam?” Cas asked, crossing her arms.

“I figured it out,” the younger Winchester lifted the books, a small smile on his face.

“You what?” Dean whipped his head over, looking between his brother and the texts in his hand.

“I finally got a hold of Rowena,” Sam nodded energetically, “We had to combine two types of magic, but I know how we can fix Cas.”

“Wait what?” Dean shook his head, “We just got home.”

“Yeah, and she was waiting in the kitchen,” Sam scoffed, “I’m surprised you didn’t see her, you walked right past it.”

“Okay so she broke in, whatever,” Dean held his hands up, “I don’t care, you can really fix Cas?”

“Yeah,” Sam chuckled, nodding, “I can.”

“Well shit,” Dean smiled widely, “Let’s do it.”

“No,” Cas spoke up, causing Dean to turn around and look at her with his face contorted in confusion.

“What?” he asked sharply.

“I’m not changing back until I have the baby, Dean,” Cas raised her eyebrows and spoke slowly as if Dean should have already known what she was about to say.

“Why not?” Dean threw his arms out, “We finally have a chance to get you back to your normal self. What if the longer the curse is in place it becomes more permanent?”

“I think I’m going to leave you two alone for this discussion—“ Sam held his hands up and slowly began backing through the door.

“No, Sam, stay,” Dean held a palm up before turning to look at his brother, “Tell Cas that she’s being ridiculous.”

“I—“ Sam began, closing his eyes and shaking his head slowly.

“I’m _not_ being ridiculous, Dean,” Cas interjected, “You have no idea what would happen to the baby if we transformed me back right now.”

“Cas is right, Dean,” Sam spoke up from behind him. Dean spun around, his mouth open as he looked at his brother with a bewildered look. “We can’t change him back until the baby is born.”

“Oh my god,” Dean rolled his eyes and turned to look at the blank wall, his hands coming up to drag down his face, “I cannot believe this.”

“I’m gonna go,” Sam said quietly, pointing to the door and nodding to Cas with a sympathetic look as he bolted quickly from the room.

“You continue to say that you love me,” Cas shook her head, looking down at the ground with her fists clenched at her sides, “But you won’t stop trying to get me back into my male form. If you truly loved me—“

“But this isn’t the ‘you’ I fell in love with, damn it!” Dean spun around and yelled.

Cas jerked backwards, her mouth clamping shut.

“That’s…” Dean shook his head, sighing loudly, “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” Cas nodded as Dean walked past her and flopped onto the foot of the bed, “As hurtful as it was to hear you say it, I understand. I can’t imagine if I had to treat you the same if you were suddenly in a completely different body with completely different sexual organs.”

“I’m sorry,” Dean reached out blindly and grabbed her hand, giving it a tight squeeze, “I’m just…this is such a weird situation for us to be in.”

“I know,” Cas nodded, squeezing his hand back.

“I just don’t understand,” Dean groaned and dropped his head into his hands, running his fingers through his hair, “It’s not like you even _wanted_ kids.”

“It’s now not a matter of ‘want’, Dean,” she responded with her tone growing heated yet again, using the normal Castiel finger quotes, “There’s already a fetal life force growing rapidly inside of me.”

“Okay,” Dean stood up, feeling his anger inching back to the surface, his jaw clenched tightly between his words, “But you and I both know that this is not a normal baby. It’s a _nephilim_.”

“And your point is?” Cas yelled back, taking a few steps forward to glare up at him.

“You know what my point is, Cas,” Dean narrowed his eyes, “Nephilim are dangerous.”

“Like Jack?” Cas hissed, her lips pressed tightly together and her eyes wide with anger.

“You,” Dean paused and let out a sharp breath, “You know Jack is different.”

Cas reached out and grabbed Dean’s hand, yanking it towards her. She pressed it against the swell of her abdomen, her eyes flashing a much brighter electric blue than was normal for her grace for a quick moment.

“And how do you know that _this_ one isn’t different too?”

Dean opened his mouth to argue with her, but felt his lungs seize up the moment he felt movement beneath his palm. His jaw dropped open even further as his eyes dropped down to where his hand laid on top of Cas’ stomach. He froze completely still, only having to wait a second before he felt another wave move under the skin. He forced his mouth to close and swallowed down the tightness in his throat as his other hand lifted to press gently alongside of his other one. He bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes when a swift kick pushed against his hand, fighting the smile that was trying to form on his lips.

“Dean,” Cas whispered, placing her hands over his and waiting to continue speaking until he had looked up and made eye contact, “Jack is _good_. He’s good because of us. Do you honestly think we can’t do the same thing with her?”

Dean’s mouth dropped open and he let out a huff of breath, his eyes widened.

“It’s a girl?”


	7. Chapter 7

_Everything I have found here, I’ve never found by myself_.

**JUNE 2020**

By the time the movie was over, Joey had fallen asleep and was curled up on Jack’s lap, his shirt fisted in one of her hands as she breathed slowly. Dean nudged Cas’ shoulder and gestured silently with his head towards the chair, and the angel instantly smiled when he saw the two nephilim cuddled together.

“Look at your kids, so cute.”

Dean whipped his head up to glare at his brother, shaking his head. Cas chuckled softly and shook his head.

“Really?” Dean tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.

Sam shrugged, pouting his bottom lip out, “Am I wrong?”

“Jack,” Cas said quietly enough to not wake Joey, but loud enough to gather the young man’s attention, “Are you okay?”

Jack nodded, one side of his mouth winding up into a little half smile as his hand continued rubbing gentle circles on Joey’s back. He looked down at her and his face fell slowly, his brow furrowed as he sighed loudly.

“What’s wrong?” Sam raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t want her to leave,” Jack whispered, biting his bottom lip, “I know that we have to send her back to her time, and that future me will get to be with her, but still…”

Dean drew a deep breath as Jack trailed off, leaning his head down to rest against the top of Joey’s. She stirred briefly, then slowly pushed against him and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Cas stood up and walked over to the chair, smiling down at her as she turned in Jack’s lap and faced the rest of the room.

“Did you sleep well, Joey?”

Joey nodded, then let out a big yawn and stretched her arms above her head before sliding off of Jack’s legs onto the floor. She walked past Cas towards the couch and jumped onto it next to Dean, rubbing her nose on his arm.

“Still tired, kiddo?” Dean asked, and Joey adamantly shook her head against him as she snuggled her face into his side.

“Looks like she wakes up as easily as you do,” Sam scoffed.

“Waking up is hard,” Dean shot him a playful glare before he turned and wrapped his arms around Joey’s waist, giving her a tight squeeze, “Right Jojo?”

Joey nodded, then slowly pulled back and let out a big breath, looking up at Dean with her eyes flashing silver for a brief moment.

“Hey, no flying away,” Dean held up a finger with one hand and gripped her hip with the other so she couldn’t move.

“I’m not gonna,” she whined, trying to wiggle out of his grasp only to have him pull her closer and stuff his face into her neck. She giggled as the stubble along his chin tickled her, shaking her head quickly and pushing against his chest.

“You said that last time and then you did it any way,” he murmured as his fingertips began wiggling against her ribcage, pulling a loud laugh bubbling from her throat.

“Stop,” she squealed as he continued tickling her, her legs kicking wildly as she tried to get away from him, “Daddy, _stop_!”

Dean froze when he heard that word come out of her mouth, his hands immediately pulling away as he sat up, clearing his throat. Joey let out a few more giggles before sighing and looking up at him with a small smile.

“Um, so,” Dean coughed, then scratched the back of his neck as he turned and looked at the ground, “Jojo, you think you can let Jack read your mind now?”

Joey moved to the edge of the couch and nodded slowly, biting her lip as she stared down at her feet. Jack moved to stand up, but Cas held out a hand and shook his head before walking over and squatting directly in front of Joey.

“Joey,” he spoke quietly, tilting his head down to try and meet her gaze. Joey continued looking down, playing with her fingers as she nibbled her lips. Cas slowly reached out and put his finger under her chin, gently pulling her face up to look at him. When their eyes met, Joey had a single tear breaking over her bottom lid and trailing down her cheek.

“Joey,” he repeated, lowering his chin, “Why are you sad?”

“I,” she paused to sniff, reaching up and wiping the tear with the back of her wrist, “I don’t want to go back.”

“Why not?” Dean turned his head and looked down at her, hating the feeling in the pit of his stomach that came with _knowing_ why she didn’t want to go back. Jack had told them it was because of he and Cas arguing, and Dean didn’t like that their future selves were capable of making this little girl feel unwanted enough to not want to return to her home time.

“Can Bubba just read my mind?” she sniffled again, pouting her bottom lip out as Dean reached out and rubbed the top of her back, “Please?”

Dean and Cas looked up and made eye contact, silently communicating before they stood up together. Joey’s eyes followed them as they walked over to Jack, biting the insides of her cheeks.

“I don’t know that this is a good idea,” Dean whispered, running a hand down his face.

“What other option do we have?” Cas tightened his lips together as he looked over Dean’s shoulder to where Joey had walked over to Sam and was watching him do something on his cell phone.

“I don’t think we have another option,” Jack shrugged.

“But she’s obviously upset about going back,” Dean hissed, throwing an arm in her direction.

“So what would you have us do,” Cas tilted his head to the side, “Keep her here and disrupt the very delicate fabric of time and possibly cause yet _another_ apocalypse?”

Dean huffed a sharp breath out of his nose, “Well when you put it that way.”

“I know that you’re worried about her right now, Dean,” Cas reached out and placed a gentle hand on Dean’s shoulder, “But think about how _future_ you is handling this. You’ve only known her a day, the future Dean has known her her _entire_ life. Do you really want to put yourself through that?”

“All this future talk is giving me a headache,” Dean groaned and rubbed the back of his neck, accidentally rubbing the top of Cas’ fingers in the process.

They hadn’t noticed Jack leaving the conversation quietly and walking over to Joey, pulling her aside and bending over at the waist to talk to her until he loudly exclaimed, “Absolutely not!”

“Jack?” Cas whipped his head around and moved towards them, a concerned look on his face.

“What’s going on?” Dean followed, his eyes darting between Jack and Joey.

“It’s true,” Joey shouted, her hands balled into fists at her sides.

“No, Joey,” Jack shook his head, and sighed loudly.

“Someone better tell me what’s going on right now,” Dean pointed a finger at the ground and tightened his jaw.

“Or you’ll turn the car around?” Sam mumbled from behind him, shaking his head in apology when Dean turned to glare at him.

“She thinks that you two don’t want her,” Jack looked pointedly at Cas and Dean.

“What?” Cas’ jaw fell open as he looked down at the little girl who was currently staring at the ground.

“Seriously? We-“ Dean began.

“Not you two,” Jack shook his head quickly, “The future Dean and Castiel.”

“Wait,” Dean held up a hand, “Really? Joey, you can’t possibly think that—“

“Yes I can,” Joey interrupted sharply, her head jerking up to stare into his eyes, her own silver orbs flashing at him. Dean raised an eyebrow and she let out a long breath, her eyes fading to her normal blue before she continued, “You just don’t understand.”

“Help us to understand, baby,” Dean whispered, coughing when he realized how easily the affectionate name slipped out of his mouth.

“Let Jack read your mind, sweetheart,” Sam added from behind him, his eyes begging as he looked down at her.

“I don’t want you to hate me too,” Joey whispered, her eyes welling with tears.

“Joey, I need you to listen very carefully, okay?” Cas took a step forward and squatted directly in front of her as she nodded slowly.

“Okay.”

He reached out and took her small hands into his large ones, giving them a quick squeeze before he spoke again.

“I know that I’m not technically your father, not yet any way,” he tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, waiting until she nodded to continue, “but I can say with absolute certainty that the Dean and I that are in the future are terrified out of our minds looking for you.”

Joey shook her head adamantly, “You don’t know that.”

Cas held up a finger, “Yes I do. Joanna, because we share grace you are able to read my emotions much easier than reading anyone else’s. Am I lying?”

Joey narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, then sighed and pulled her hands away from him, crossing her arms.

“No.”

“Jojo,” Dean spoke up from where he was standing behind Cas, clearing his throat and repeating her name when she refused to meet his gaze initially. She finally looked up and made eye contact, her eyes shining again with tears. “We can have Jack read your mind to find out what happened, but we would rather you tell us.”

“I don’t want to,” she whined, her brow turned down, “You’ll get mad.”

“I promise we won’t,” Cas held up a hand in solidarity.

“Why can’t bubba just read my mind?” she sighed loudly.

“Because you can’t always rely on me to be your method of communication,” Jack said quietly, a small smile on his face.

Joey frowned and pouted her bottom lip out, leaning back in the chair, “I like future Bubba better. He lets me do whatever I want.”

Jack’s mouth fell open, and he shook his head as Sam walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, chuckling softly.

“She’s kidding,” Sam whispered as Dean and Cas continued to talk to Joey. 

Jack sighed, shaking his head, “Actually she’s not, earlier when she showed me the memories of her calling me ‘bubba’ I saw her convincing me to feed her cookies for breakfast before the three of you woke up.”

"I'm not going to do it," Joey crossed her arms in defiance, "I don't want to tell you. Bubba can just read my mind." 

"Joey," Cas groaned, looking down at her with narrowed eyes, "Please just tell us?" 

"No."

"Jojo," Dean warned, raising an eyebrow. She snapped her gaze over to him and mimicked his facial expression, tilting her head to the side in a challenging pose. They stared each other down for a moment before Dean finally rolled his eyes and shook his head. 

"Let's go, Bubba," Joey smirked and grabbed Jack's hand, pulling him with her to the hallway as Dean glared after her. 

"I wonder if she's able to get you to bend that easily in the future," Sam mused quietly as he walked between Dean and Cas, following the nephilim. 

"Shut up," Dean muttered, punching the back of his brother's shoulder before joining him in the hallway. 

They decided to get Joey a little more comfortable for Jack to read her mind, so they went into Dean’s bedroom and had her lay on the bed, her head on a pillow in her brother’s lap.

“Don’t be afraid, okay?” Jack smiled down at her, gently moving a few strands of hair out of her face.

“I’m not,” she shook her head with a small grin, “I know you won’t hurt me, Bubba.”

Jack pressed his lips together in a tight smile and nodded, reaching his fingers out until they were only an inch from her temples.

“You ready?” he asked.

Joey nodded, then held up a sharp hand, “Wait.”

“What’s wrong, Jojo?” Dean instantly walked towards the bed, his face contorted in concern. Joey pushed up onto her elbows, looking between Cas and Dean with wide eyes.

“Can you...” she trailed off, biting the insides of her cheeks, “Can you hold my hand?”

“Of course,” Cas responded immediately, walking to the side of the bed and sitting down, taking one of her hands in his. Dean followed suit on the other side, giving her hand a quick squeeze and winking at her before she nodded and laid back down.

Dean looked over and Cas and leaned over top of Joey, whispering, “Are we sure this is a good idea?”

“I can hear you, you know,” Jack muttered as he got his hands into position again.

“You know that Jack would never do anything to hurt her, Dean,” Cas locked eyes with the hunter and tilted his chin down slightly.

Dean swallowed and nodded before turning to look at Jack, giving him a look of approval before glancing back down at Joey. Her eyes were closed yet again, and she seemed so peaceful that Dean couldn’t stop himself from placing a gentle hand on her cheek, rubbing his thumb along her jaw line. Joey peeked one eye open to look at him, and gave him a bright smile before closing her eye and snuggling into the pillow beneath her.

Jack looked around the room at the three men before closing his own eyes and pressing his fingers to Joey’s head.

Dean felt Joey’s hand tighten on his just a little, so he moved his other hand so he could engulf her tiny fingers and began rubbing soothing circles over the back of her hand. He glanced over and noticed Cas doing the same thing and fought back a smile.

Ever since Joey had arrived, Dean couldn’t help but wonder what it would’ve been like if Joey had traveled back to a more distant time. Imagining Cas interacting with a child in the early years was interesting, and Dean shuddered to himself as he formed a picture of the original ‘raised you from perdition’ Castiel being hugged by a tiny nephilim.

“Jack?” Cas’ voice brought Dean back and his head shot up to see the young man’s brow furrowed as he shook his head slowly.

“Joey, you have to—“ Jack was interrupted as his hands shot off of her head, and Joey’s eyes snapped open.

“Joey are you okay?” Cas reached out and pressed a hand to her shoulder as he slowly pushed herself to a sitting position.

“I’m fine,” she shrugged, then turned and look at Jack with an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry Bubba, I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay,” he narrowed his eyes at her for a moment before sighing loudly and looking up between Dean and Cas, “I don’t understand how she’s able to do that, I’m much stronger than her. A normal nephilim shouldn’t be able to push me out like that.”

“Well that’s because she’s not a normal nephilim,” Dean raised his eyebrows with a smirk, “She’s a Winchester.”

“I think it’s more likely that it’s because she’s Dean’s kid,” Sam scoffed from where he was leaning against the wall, “I’m sure she’s stubborn as hell.”

“Joey, do you think you can relax this time?” Cas smiled down at Joey, rubbing circles on her knee.

She shrugged, then let out a sharp breath and nodded. She laid back onto Jack’s lap again, holding her hands out for Dean and Cas to hold. They instantly grabbed them and squeezed, subconsciously leaning towards each other as they watched Joey’s eye close yet again.

“Now Joey,” Jack looked at her upside down with a stern look, “I need you to be as relaxed as you can. Is there anything we can do to help you?”

Cas noticed Joey squirm slightly and bite the inside of her cheek before shaking her head to the side slowly.

“Joey, tell us,” he spoke softly.

“I just,” she paused, her eyes squeezed closed even tighter as she bit her bottom lip, “My dads...you...in my time, my dads would sing to me.”

Dean straightened his spine suddenly, his eyes bugged out and his mouth dropped open as a blush began to creep up his neck. He slowly turned to glance at Cas, who had tilted his head to side and narrowed his eyes at Joey. Dean could hear Sam clearing his throat through laughter behind him, and shot him a glare before shaking his head.

“What song?”

Dean’s head snapped back to stare at Cas, “What?”

Cas shrugged, “If we do it in the future, I don’t see a reason we couldn’t do it now.”

“I can think of a hundred reasons,” Dean leaned over and hissed, his jaw clenched tightly.

“You might not know it anyway,” Joey bit her lips and played with her fingers, opening her eyes and looking up at the ceiling.

Dean looked down at her and sighed loudly, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose and shaking his head before speaking quietly.

“What song is it, Jojo?”

He swore he could see a small smile forming on her face before she responded, “Hey Jude.”

Dean drew a sharp breath and closed his eyes, blowing it all out his mouth before reopening them to look at the angel beside him.

Cas leaned over top of Joey’s legs, placing a hand directly next to Dean’s thigh to support his weight. He looked at Dean with a gentle pity, smiling sweetly as he whispered as close to his ear as possible.

“I know about your history with that song, Dean,” Cas’ pinky was suddenly subconsciously rubbing against Dean’s thigh as he spoke, and either they didn’t notice or didn’t care because neither of them moved away. “We don’t have to do this.”

Dean swallowed loudly as Cas pulled away, and when he turned to look at the angel and lock eyes with those bright blue orbs, he chuckled softly.

“It’s okay, Cas,” he sighed before patting on top of Cas’ hand a few times, letting his palm linger after for a brief moment. The angel smiled and moved his fingers just enough that Dean’s slipped through and they became intertwined for just a second before Dean faked a cough and removed his hand.

“Shall I go find a guitar?” Sam asked sarcastically from the doorway.

“You, out,” Dean turned and pointed a finger at his brother.

Sam held up his hands defensively, “Hey, I was just kidding, I wanna stay for the concert.”

“Nope,” Dean shook his head adamantly, pointing again to the door, “I cannot do this with you in here. Hell, I might not be able to do this with you _not_ in here.”

Sam rolled his eyes before turning and leaving the room, “Fine fine, I guess since it’s for Joey.”

Once Sam had closed the door, Dean turned and looked at Cas with a nervous smile before he realized Joey was giggling beneath them, her hands covering her mouth.

“What’s so funny, squirt?” he poked her knee.

“Future daddy doesn’t let Uncle Sam hear him sing either,” she pulled her lips between her teeth and tried to stop laughing, her eyes still squeezed shut.

“Are you ready?” Cas shot Dean a quick smile.

“Hold on,” Dean nodded, then turned and reached under the pillow where Jack’s phone was open to the recording app.

Jack shrugged with a sarcastic smile, “Worth a shot.”

“Okay,” Dean turned off his phone and threw it towards the foot of the bed, “Let’s do this.”

“Do you want to start?” Cas asked quietly.

“Um, sure,” Dean cleared his throat, looking down at the comforter as he picked at it with his fingernails.

“Any minute now,” Jack muttered, his fingers still poised on the sides of Joey’s head.

“Shut it,” Dean grunted, pointing a finger at Jack.

“Come on, Dad,” Joey whined, pushing herself up onto her elbows yet again, “It’s just us.”

“There is no ‘just us’ about it,” Dean grumbled, furrowing his brow.

“In my time, it’s just your husband and your kids,” Joey mumbled as she laid back down, earning her a quick swat on the leg from Dean.

“Alright alright, let’s go,” Dean rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and shook his shoulders briefly to try and loosen his nerves. Just as he opened his mouth, he heard Cas beginning next to him.

“ _Hey Jude, don't make it bad_  
 _Take a sad song and make it better_  
 _Remember to let her into your heart_  
 _Then you can start_ —”

Cas stopped when he looked and noticed Dean staring at him, his jaw dropped open. “What’s the matter? Did I sing it wrong?”

“No,” Dean responded instantly, “You, um…you actually have a really good singing voice.”

“Oh,” Cas replied shortly before nodding, “Uh, thank you.”

“Okay, um, you can, uh, keep going,” Dean stuttered, waving a hand towards the angel.

“You _both_ have to sing,” Joey spoke up from where she was still laying down.

Dean made a mocking face, shaking his head before he looked at Cas pleadingly. Cas seemed to understand, and nodded before beginning again.

“Then you can start to make it better.”

Dean swallowed loudly and closed his eyes before starting the next verse, their voices melding together as they sang.

“ _Hey Jude, don't be afraid_  
 _You were made to go out and get her_  
 _The minute you let her under your skin_  
 _Then you begin to make it better_.”

Dean peeked one eye open and turned to look at Cas, who was staring lovingly down at Joey as they sang. The angel had a small smile on his face, and every time he squeezed the little girl’s hand, the grace behind his eyes would light up with a faint glimmer. Dean found himself smiling in turn, and reached out to grab Joey’s other hand as they continued the song.

“ _And anytime you feel the pain_  
 _Hey Jude, refrain_  
 _Don't carry the world upon your shoulders_  
 _For well you know that it's a fool_  
 _Who plays it cool_  
 _By making his world a little colder_  
 _Na-na-na, na, na_  
 _Na-na-na, na_.”

They both trailed off in that moment, as Joey looked so relaxed she may as well have been asleep.

“You ready, Joey?” Jack whispered, his fingers a hair away from touching her scalp. She nodded slowly, giving Dean and Cas’ hands both a quick squeeze.

“We’re right here, Jojo,” Dean said quietly.

Jack took a deep breath and closed his eyes before pressing gently onto her temples. His head jerked backwards initially and his eyes lit up with their familiar golden glow as his brow furrowed.

“Jack?” Cas asked cautiously.

“It’s okay,” Jack shook his head slightly, his eyes still aimed at the ceiling, “She’s doing great. We’re okay.”

“Okay,” Dean repeated the word more for his own benefit than anyone else’s.

They continued watching as Jack’s eyes darted around, every once in a while smiling or chuckling as he looked through Joey’s memories.

“Bubba,” Joey began to whine, her grip on Dean and Cas tightening.

“You’re okay, sissy,” Jack nodded, moving his fingers in circles on her temples to try and soothe her, “You’ve got this.”

“No, they’re getting mad,” she began breathing heavily, shaking her head in his lap, “Daddy, no, don’t! Please!”

“Jack, stop,” Cas said sternly, his other hand moving to rest on Joey’s knee.

“No,” Jack shook his head roughly, “I’m almost there, she just needs to calm down.”

“Jack, she’s hurtin—“

“She’s not hurt, she’s just scared. Sing again,” Jack shouted, “Sing to her.”

Dean’s head jerked from Jack over to Cas, and as they made eye contact they nodded and opened their mouths to sing.

“ _Na, na, na, na-na-na na_  
 _Na-na-na na, hey Jude_  
 _Na, na, na, na-na-na na_  
 _Na-na-na na, hey Jude_.”

Joey visibly calmed down the moment they began singing, her muscles in her legs calming down and her face relaxing.

“ _Na, na, na, na-na-na na_  
 _Na-na-na na, hey Jude_  
 _Na, na, na, na-na-na na_  
 _Na-na-na na, hey Jude_.”

By the time they finished singing ‘hey jude’ the last time, Jack was releasing his fingers from Joey’s head. She stayed in that same spot, her breathing even and her mouth open just a little.

“Jojo,” Dean rushed forward on the bed, Cas not far behind as Jack looked concernedly down at her calm face. Dean grabbed her cheeks, his eyes scanning her face for any sign of movement as Cas gently wiggled her shoulders.

“She’s just asleep,” Jack shook his head, rubbing a stray piece of hair from her face, “I promise Dean, I didn’t hurt her, I would never—“

“I know,” Dean interrupted, rubbing her cheek with his thumb before sitting back up and looking Jack in the eye, “I know, Jack.”

“Did you find out what happened?”

Jack looked back and forth between the two men, biting his bottom lip as he nodded slowly. He took a long breath, looking down at Joey’s sleeping face and stroking her hair softly before opening his mouth to speak.

“You aren’t going to like it.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, this chapter has some pretty intense angst. Promise me you won’t stop reading and curl into a ball and cry, because this chapter DOES. END. HAPPY. Promise me. Okay? Okay. Now go read.

_If I ever were to lose you, I’d surely lose myself_.

**May 2022**

“It’s going to be okay.”

“Shut up.”

“Dean, you—“

“I said _shut up._ ”

“Okay,” Sam held his hands up once they walked into the kitchen, taking a few steps back from his brother.

“Is there anything we can do?” Jack asked quietly, flinching when Dean spun around from where he stood at the sink and shot him a glare.

“Don’t you think if there was something you could do, I would be having you _do_ it?” Dean hissed as he turned back and wrung out the towel he was wetting.

“We’re just trying to help, Dean,” Sam responded, resting his hands on his hips.

Dean exhaled slowly and gripped the edge of the counter, dropping his head as he desperately tried to calm himself down.

“I know,” he whispered, drawing a shaky breath.

“You know Cas will be okay, right?” Sam took the three steps towards Dean and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving a quick squeeze.

“You don’t know that,” Dean turned and looked up at his brother, his green eyes shining with the tears forming, “Sammy, you don’t know that.”

“We’ve done as much research as we can,” Jack spoke up softly, walking towards the brothers with a small smile, “There’s no reason to believe that Castiel won’t be able to handle this.”

“Yeah well,” Dean sniffed loudly, reaching up to wipe the single tear that had escaped his eye, “There’s no reason to believe that she _will_ handle it.”

“Dean.”

The three of them turned to see Castiel standing in the doorway of the kitchen, holding her extremely swollen belly with one hand and bracing her back with the other.

“Hey,” Dean rushed forward, a concerned look on his face, “You should be in bed, what are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Cas swatted one of his hands away from her, grabbing the cool towel from the other hand and dabbing it onto the back of her neck.

“Can we get anything for you, Cas?” Sam asked with a sheepish smile.

“I’m hungry,” she responded before rolling her eyes and whipping the towel at Dean, turning to brace her top half against the door jamb.

“Another one already?” Dean turned and set the towel on the counter before walking up behind her and rubbing her lower back.

“No, I merely enjoy this position,” Cas responded sarcastically before her face contorted in pain.

“You’re doing great,” Dean whispered, resting his forehead against the back of her scalp, kissing her neck gently.

“Your contractions are only two minutes apart now, Castiel,” Jack held up his phone where he had been timing them for the last several hours.

“They seem to be lasting a lot longer too,” Dean nodded as Cas continued breathing through the pain.

“Yes Dean, that’s normally how labor progresses,” Cas spoke through gritted teeth before letting out a long breath and dropping her head with a loud whoosh out her pursed lips.

“You good?” Dean asked quietly, running a hand up and down her side.

“Yes,” Cas stood up, shaking her head once before turning back to look at Sam, “I would like some fried chicken.”

“You—what?” Sam scoffed, his eyebrows raised.

“I want fried chicken,” Cas repeated, nodding once, “And mashed potatoes. And coleslaw.”

“Cas,” Dean closed his eyes, “You are in active labor, I don’t think you need chicken and—“

Cas turned and narrowed her eyes at Dean, the blue grace in her eyes sparking to life as she slowly walked towards him. Dean swallowed loudly and tried to back away, only to be met with the cool surface of the wall against his back.

“Are you telling me what to do right now?” Cas whispered as she walked directly up to his toes, poking a finger sharply into his chest, “Do I need to remind you that it was _you_ that got me into this mess?”

Dean cleared his throat before trying to respond, his voice meek and squeaky, “No, but—“

“I will _also_ remind you, Dean Winchester, that I pulled you out of hell,” she hissed, her nose barely an inch from the end of his, “And just because I am currently carrying your child does not mean I won’t throw you right back in.”

“Babe,” Dean whined quietly, ignoring the snort it earned him from Sam, “I’m sorry, okay? I’m just trying to make sure that you’re—“

“Shut up,” Cas interrupted, her brow furrowing and her eyes shutting roughly as her face winced. “Shit.”

“What is it, what’s wrong?” Dean asked quickly as she backed away from him, one hand moving towards her stomach. 

“There’s no time for chicken,” Cas moaned, rolling her eyes as she turned to walk towards the hallway.

“No time for—“ Dean choked out, shaking his head before chasing after her, “What do you mean no time for chicken? What does that mean?!”

“She’s coming _now_ , Dean,” Cas called over her shoulder as she hurried towards their bedroom, Dean followed by Jack and Sam in tow.

“What? Wait, right now, like right _now_?” he shouted, freezing in the middle of the hallway as he looked at Sam with wide eyes.

“Yes, Dean, _right now_ ,” she hissed.

“Fuck,” Dean bent over at the waist, trying to suck in a breath although his lungs had stopped working suddenly.

“Dude, get up,” Sam ran forward and wrapped his hands around Dean’s shoulders, pulling him up to a standing position before shoving him towards the now open bedroom door.

“Should we go with him?” Jack asked worriedly as Dean slowly walked forward, his face as pale as the walls.

“Jack,” Sam wrapped an arm around his shoulders, “Do you remember when I showed you how a baby is born?”

The nephilim’s face instantly froze as he thought back to the images Sam had shown him on his laptop.

“While I really do _not_ want to see Castiel in that fashion,” he shuddered, “What if something happens with the baby? Dean was right, we don’t know that Cas is going to survive the birth.”

Sam let out a long breath, then bit the inside of his cheeks before nodding, “You’re right. We should at least stay close.”

“Oh my—Sam, get _in here_ ,” Dean suddenly shouted from inside the room.

“Uh, what do you need?” Sam walked forward, making sure he stayed to the side of the door where he couldn’t look inside.

“I can’t…I can’t do this man,” Dean yelled, and Sam bit back a laugh when he heard the intermittent retching coming from his brother.

“Are you _kidding_ me?” Sam heard Castiel shout between her groans of pain.

Just as Sam slapped his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter, shaking his head at Jack’s concerned face, Dean’s head popped out of the door.

“Dude I’m serious,” his older brother moaned, “Things are coming out of places that I…I just…”

“Sam, get in here so you can be the _man_ that your brother is failing to be right now!”

“Cas, with all due respect, I’d really rather _not_ look at your private parts,” Sam shouted as he leaned just enough for his voice to be heard inside the room.

“This is not,” Cas paused, pausing as she grunted through another contraction, “It’s not actually my vagina!”

“I know, but—“

“I swear to god, Samuel William Winchester I will come out there and squat on top of your shoe if you don’t get in here and _help me._ ”

Sam clamped his jaw shut and looked over at Jack, who had paled and was holding his hands up and slowly backing away.

“Nuh-uh,” Sam reached out and grabbed the front of Jack’s hoodie, pulling him towards the doorway, “We’re all in this together now.”

“Please no,” Jack whispered, slamming his eyes shut as he was yanked into the room. The bed was turned sideways, so Sam couldn’t immediately see anything when he walked in. Dean walked over to the head of the bed, one hand hesitantly reaching out to run over Castiel’s hair. She instantly slapped his hand away, shooting a glare up and making him shove his hands into his pockets sheepishly.

“You, sit behind me,” Cas yelled sharply, pointing from Dean to the space behind her, “Now.”

“Yes ma’am,” Dean murmured and clambered onto the bed, hurrying to wrap himself around her back, his legs resting on either side of her.

“Sam, I need you to look down there,” Cas gestured with her hands to where her legs were spread.

“I’d really rather not,” Sam mumbled.

“Can’t he do this without looking?” Dean asked quietly, and Cas whipped her head around to shoot daggers at him.

“Seriously, Dean. Hell. You,” Cas hissed before turning back to Sam, “I’ve witnessed enough births over the years that I should be able to handle it myself, but in the off chance something happens to me I need someone down there to get the baby.”

“What are you talking about?” Dean leaned forward, his face directly next to Cas’, “If something happens to you?”

“Dean,” Cas groaned as another contraction began ripping through her body, “If I…ugh—“

“Cas, don’t say that,” Dean shook his head adamantly and leaned his forehead against the back of her hair.

“Listen,” she shouted through the pain, “We know that there’s a chance that I’m going to die. I need you to promise you’ll take care of her if that happens.”

“Cas, you know I can’t—“ Dean drew a shaky breath.

“Dean,” Cas screamed suddenly, her hands reaching down to grab a hold of Dean’s calves, “Promise me.”

“Castiel—“

“Dean!”

“Okay, okay,” Dean nodded, clenching his jaw as he wrapped his arms around her upper half and squeezed her into a hug, pulling her back against his chest, “I promise, alright? I promise.”

“Thank you,” Cas nodded quickly, drawing a deep breath before looking over at Sam, “Please, Sam, I need you to look.”

The younger Winchester closed his eyes and took a deep breath before taking the few steps to the side and looking between her legs.

“Oh dear god,” he whispered quickly, blinking rapidly. “Okay, um…there’s a…her head is, uh, it’s coming out, I think.”

“What do you mean you _think_?” Dean asked loudly, his head poking to the side of Cas’ as he looked at his brother with wide eyes.

“God I hope that’s her head,” Sam muttered, shaking his head and looking towards the desk where Dean had set a box of gloves and hand sanitizer. He cleansed his hands and put on a pair of the disposable gloves, then added another pair just for safe measure.

“Can I please leave now?” Jack asked meekly from the doorway that he had been slowly shifting towards.

“Nope,” Dean shook his head, “We’re all in this together. Plus if the baby is born and her powers are really strong, we could need to you help us reel her in.”

Cas suddenly leaned back against Dean, turning her head to look at him with her bright blue eyes wide with tears.

“What, what is it?” Dean asked, rubbing his hands on her shoulders, “Is something wrong?” 

“You called her a baby,” Cas whispered, swallowing hard, “You’ve only ever called her the nephilim.”

“Yeah, well,” Dean shrugged, chuckling softly, “She’s our baby girl, okay?”

“She is,” Cas nodded, sniffing quietly, “She’s our baby girl.”

“Exactly,” Dean leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her sweaty forehead, “So now you have to be alive to see her grow up, okay? Which, if she’s anything like Jack will be in the thirty seconds after she’s born, but still.”

Cas chuckled softly before her face scrunched up in pain again, and she nodded quickly, looking back at Dean.

“I love you,” she said quickly through her teeth.

“I love you too,” Dean replied, “Now let’s meet our daughter.”

“Okay Cas, I’m ready whenever you are,” Sam nodded as he pulled the desk chair towards the end of the bed, his worried eyes trying desperately to avoid looking towards the crowning infant.

“Wait,” Cas quickly shook her head, closing her eyes as another wave washed over her body, “Dean, we didn’t pick a name.”

“Seriously Cas? Now?” Dean yelled, his eyebrows raised, “She is _actively_ coming out of you!”

“I know, but—“

“Cas, you gotta push,” Sam interrupted suddenly, his face concerned as he looked between Cas’ legs, “I think the cord is wrapped around her neck.”

“Wait what?” Dean leaned forward, “What does that mean? Sam, what does that mean?”

“It means Cas needs to push, _now_ ,” Sam responded loudly, and Dean watched as his brother’s hands disappeared under the blanket that was laying over Cas’ knees.

“Cas, Angel, you have to push,” Dean presses the side of his head against Cas’.

“Dean, I love you,” Cas replied with a hushed tone, her head falling back onto Dean’s shoulder. “My grace, something is happening.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Dean yelled worriedly, trying to turn his body to the side to look at Cas’ face.

“There you go, Cas, you’re doing great,” Sam called from the foot of the bed, nodding.

“I’m not doing anything,” Cas murmured, weakly shaking her head side to side against Dean.

“Cas what is going on?” Dean began to shake her shoulders roughly as she took a few deep breathes, her eyes slowly drifting shut and then reopening as she used all of her remaining strength to stay conscious.

“Okay, she’s almost here, it’s—“

Sam’s voice cut off by a bright light shining from the bottom of the bed, causing everyone in the room to cover their eyes. When the light finally dimmed, the baby was laying on her back on the bed below Cas, crying and kicking her arms and legs. Sam hurriedly turned to the side and grabbed a small blanket, wrapping it around the infant and scooping her into his arms, rubbing her sides to make sure she was drying off.

“Cas?”

Sam looked up and saw that Dean was roughly shaking Cas’ shoulders, and her eyes were closed. Her body was null of any movement, and Sam looked over at Jack who was standing in the doorway shaking his head.

“Cas!” Dean screamed, wiggling out from behind her and gently laying her body down. He pressed two fingers against her neck, trying desperately to find a pulse. He turned and looked at Sam with wide eyes and his mouth dropped open.

“Jack, grab the stuff,” Sam shouted, and Jack nodded once before flying out of the room. A mere five seconds later he returned with an armful of bowls and ingredients, laying them on top of the dresser.

“Sammy, what are you, we have to,” Dean found himself unable to complete a sentence as he still kept shaking Cas, trying to get her to wake up or take a goddamn breath.

“We’re doing the spell,” Sam interrupted, walking to the dresser with the infant still in his arms and nodding as Jack began mixing the items together in a large bowl. “Maybe Cas’ grace will be able to heal him better if he’s in his original true vessel.”

“The Jimmy vessel?” Dean shouted, spinning around and walking towards the dresser, “You’re trying to turn him back into a guy?”

“It’s our only chance, Dean,” Jack responded as he added the final ingredient and walked over to the bed, placing the bowl on Cas’ chest. Dean swallowed when he realized the bowl was not moving at all. No movement meant no heart beat. No movement meant no breathing. No movement meant...

“Do it,” Dean suddenly yelled, nodding as Jack took a deep breath and spoke a few words in enochian before adding one last tiny vial of powder to the bowl. A large puff of blue smoke surrounded them, making them all cough and Sam use the blanket to cover the baby’s face. As it cleared, Dean was the first to snap his head back up and look at the bed. He let out a sharp breath when he looked at the flat planes of their chest and the short cropped hair.

“Cas,” he breathed out, rushing forward and shaking his shoulders.

Sam and Jack watched solemnly from the foot of the bed as Cas’ body remained still, apart from the thrashing caused by Dean’s movement.

“Cas, babe, wake up,” Dean’s voice began to crack as tears welled in his eyes and he furiously tried to blink them away.

“Dean,” Sam whispered, interrupted when the baby in his arms began to cry loudly. He bounced his arms slightly and shushed her quietly, trying to get her to calm back down.

“Take her out of here, Sammy,” Dean said quietly, refusing to let his eyes move from Cas’ still body. 

“Dean, I—“

“Get her _out_ of here,” Dean growled loudly, his hands reaching under Cas’ head as tears began pouring from his eyes. He pulled Cas’ face to his chest, running his fingers through the short dark hair. He felt the stubble poking through his t-shirt and choked out a sob, dropping his head to press against the angel’s cool forehead.

Sam turned to Jack and held out the baby, to which the nephilim quickly shook his head with wide eyes.

“Jack, take her,” Sam hissed, his jaw clenched.

“I don’t know how to,” Jack whispered, and Sam rolled his eyes before shoving the infant towards his chest, forcing Jack to open his arms and wrap his hands under her to prevent her from falling to the floor.

“Take her to your room,” Sam placed a hand on Jack’s shoulder and looked straight into his eyes, “Don’t come out until I come and get you.” 

“Okay,” Jack replied, his worried eyes darting from the baby in his arms to the large hunter in front of him.

“Go,” Sam whispered, gently pushing the young man’s shoulders towards the open doorway. Once Jack and the baby were out of the room, Sam turned back to his brother.

Dean’s tears had not slowed, his grip around Cas’ shoulders so tight his knuckles were white. Sam took a few steps forward, closing his eyes to try and force his own emotions down before he reached out and laid a hand on Dean’s back.

“Don’t,” Dean hissed quietly, his head jerking to the side as he glared at his brother. Sam ignored the request and instead took another step forward, bending down and wrapping his other arm around the front of Dean’s chest.

“Sammy,” Dean whimpered, looking down at Cas’ still face as he slowly shook his head side to side, “Damn it, Cas. God _fucking_ damn it. I told you. I told you not to do this. I can’t…I can’t do this without you.” 

Sam let his brother vent his thoughts, intermittently giving a tight squeeze when he felt like he needed it. The tears were freely flowing down Dean’s cheeks, and Sam could feel where they hit his forearm when they rolled from his face.

“Maybe,” Dean sniffed loudly, his eyes looking over the angel’s body, “Maybe Jack can do something? Did he try? Can he try? Sammy, go get Jack, maybe he can—“

“He can’t,” Sam interrupted, shaking his head against the back of his brother’s, “Jack said that because it was due to a nephilim birth, there’s nothing he can do.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Dean pushed away from the bed, turning to stare at his brother with red rimmed eyes. “Jack is _God_ , he can do anything. He can save anyone, he can bring Cas back.”

“Dean,” Sam shook his head slowly.

“He didn’t even _try_ , Sam,” Dean shouted, throwing his arms to the side, “Go get him, he has to try. He didn’t even try.”

Sam didn’t respond, instead watched as Dean’s rough facade crumbled yet again once he realized that Sam was right. Dean closed his eyes and turned to face the bed, opening them and letting out a shaky breath before kneeling down and running a hand through Cas’ hair. He brought the other hand up and rested it along his cheek, his thumb rubbing his cheek.

“Sammy, I can’t do this without him,” Dean shook his head, his eyes never leaving the face of the man he loved.

“Yes you can,” Sam replied quietly, and Dean closed his eyes and dropped his head to rest on Cas’ chest, “You have to. Cas would…he would want you to go on. He would want you to…to take care of your daughter.”

“I can’t,” Dean choked out another sob, a hand drifting to the women’s shirt that Cas’ male vessel was still wearing and gripping it in his fist.

“You can, I know you can,” Sam responded, this time with a stern tone to his voice, “She needs you.”

Dean drew a sharp breath, then loosened his grip on Cas’ shirt and sat up sharply. His head jerked side to side as he looked along Cas’ body, breathing heavily as he pushed away from the bed.

“Dean?” Sam asked quietly.

“I felt something,” Dean said loudly, shaking his head, “I felt something move.”

“Dean,” Sam sighed, his eyebrows falling in pity at his hopeful brother, “Dean, he’s gone.”

“No, Sam,” Dean huffed out a breath before pushing himself to a standing position, pointing down at Cas’ body, “I’m serious, something’s happening.”

“Dean, he—“

“Sam!”

When the younger Winchester finally turned to look down at where Dean was pointing, his jaw fell open. Through the thin shirt that was covering his torso, they could see a faint blue glow coming from his abdomen. Sam’s head snapped to look at his brother, who was staring intently at the glow with tears welling in his eyes again. It began to brighten more and more the longer they watched, and just as Sam and Dean were about to cover their eyes from the brightness, a movement at Cas’ head caught their attention.

Cas’ eyes snapped open, the blue glow of his grace as bright as ever as he loudly gulped a breath of air. His hands snapped up to his chest and his stomach, gripping onto the shirt as he coughed roughly.

Dean tried desperately to take a breath, but found himself instead falling to his knees on the floor and scrambling forward towards the bed, his heart beating so loud in his ears he couldn’t think of anything except CasCasCasCasCas.

“Cas,” Sam exclaimed, running to the other side of the bed and pressing a hand to the angel’s shoulder, “Cas, can you hear me?”

“Yes,” Cas responded quietly, his eyes blinking rapidly as he looked around the room, “What…what happened?”

“You fucking _died_ , you asshole,” Dean shouted as he grabbed both sides of Cas’ face and forced him to look at him, “You…you died, and I…and…goddamn it.”

Dean lunged forward and pressed his lips to the angel’s, one hand fisting the back of his hair as he held them together. Cas sank into the feeling, his muscles relaxing as one hand came up to press against Dean’s cheek. They ignored Sam clearing his throat next to them, they ignored him rolling his eyes, they ignored him walking out of the room, mumbling about going to Jack’s room and closing the door behind him.

They only finally pulled away when Dean felt Cas’ face contort in apparent confusion. He gave one last peck and leaned back, furrowing his own brow when he saw Cas looking around the room.

“What’s wrong?” Dean asked quietly, rubbing the back of the angel’s neck.

“Is…is the baby…did she…” Cas trailed off, his jaw tightened as he searched Dean’s face for a glimmer of hope.

“She’s, she’s fine,” Dean responded immediately, a small smile on his face, “I think she’s with Jack.”

“Is she beautiful?”

“I, um,” Dean cleared his throat, looking down at Cas’ chest, “I didn’t get a chance to really look at her before, you know.”

“Before I died,” Cas nodded, then turned to look down the bed with his head tilted, “My breasts are gone.”

“Yeah,” Dean chuckled, “When we realized you were dying, we did the reversal spell to see if it would help you heal faster or something.”

“Oh,” Cas nodded, then moved his hands to run down his body covered with the blanket, eventually reaching the spot between his legs and cupping himself, “I have certainly missed having a penis.” 

Dean rolled his eyes with a laugh before leaning forward and kissing the angel again, this time much more chaste than before. When he pulled back with a loud smack, he gave Cas a wide grin and shrugged.

“What do you think, you want to go meet our baby girl?” 

Cas instantly smiled his unique gummy smile, pushing against the mattress to a sitting position quickly and earning him a concerned look from Dean.

“Whoa, easy there, slow down,” Dean grabbed both of his shoulders, the thin material slipping between his fingers before he bit his bottom lip to stave the laughter bubbling in his throat. “Um, Cas, don’t you think you might want to change your clothes first?”

The angel cocked his head to the side before looking down and realizing that he was barely covered once the blanket had fallen to the side, and he was only wearing a sheer light blue tank top that barely came to his belly button.

“I mean,” Dean shrugged, “I’m all for this look, but Jack and Sam might want you to at least put some boxers on.”

Cas looked up and pushed against Dean’s face before slowly standing and walking to the dresser, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and throwing them on while Dean watched from the bed.

“Damn I missed that body,” he mused, a cocky smirk playing on his face as Cas pulled the shirt over his head. 

The angel rolled his eyes and shook his head before holding a hand out and smiling, “Come on, let’s go meet our daughter.”

Dean returned the smile and stood up, walking over and intertwining their fingers before they walked towards the door. Before he turned the doorknob, he turned and looked at Cas with a concerned look.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked quietly, wrapping a hand around the back of the angel’s neck. 

“Yes Dean,” Cas nodded, leaning into the embrace, “I’m okay.”

“Alright,” Dean agreed before turning back to the door and walking into the hallway towards Jack’s room. Once they reached the closed door and Cas moved to open it, Dean held out a hand.

“What’s wrong?” Cas turned and narrowed his eyes at him in confusion.

“I…I’m a little, um…” Dean trailed off, biting his bottom lip and running a hand through his hair.

“Are you scared?”

“Psh, no,” Dean scoffed, chuckling weakly for a moment before looking up and meeting Cas’ eyes. “Okay, yes. What if I’m an awful dad? What if I’m just like my dad, but I’ll be even worse because she’s a nephilim and that means parenting her is going to be way harder and what if—“

“Dean,” Cas reached out and pressed a gentle finger to his lips, a small smile on his face, “The fact that you’re worrying about all of this means that you’re going to be an amazing father.”

“You don’t know that,” Dean muttered through his fingers.

“Yes, I do,” Cas nodded, “Now, can we please go inside?”

“Okay,” Dean whispered, swallowing loudly and taking a few deep breathes as the door swung open slowly.

The sight that greeted them was enough to melt away any concerns that Dean had about team free will raising an infant. The baby was laying on the bed between Jack’s spread legs, and Sam was sitting at the foot of the bed and running his fingers gently over the sparse hair on her head. Jack was making different faces down at her as he picked up her tiny legs and moved them back and forth.

When they realized the door was open, they both turned and smiled at Dean and Cas. Sam leaned down and carefully scooped the baby up into his arms, Jack following the movement with his own hands to make sure Sam had a good grip. Cas took a few steps forward, a bright smile on his face as Sam stood up and bounced his arms, walking towards the angel.

“Here she is,” Sam whispered, leaning down to place a quick kiss on her forehead before holding her out for Cas. The angel carefully pulled the infant into his arms, his breath catching as she wiggled slightly and made soft whining noises before snuggling into his chest.

“She’s…she’s perfect,” Cas whispered, leaning down to rub his nose against her hair and inhale deeply. He turned around and saw Dean standing a few steps back, rubbing his sweaty palms on his jeans. “Dean, come here.”

The hunter cleared his throat and took a deep breath before nodding and moving forward, his eyes never leaving the small bundle in Cas’ arms.

“Holy shit,” Dean whispered with a chuckle as he moved closer, his hands still pressed against his thighs, “She is perfect.”

“You’re going to have to watch your language now,” Sam chastised from where he was standing a few feet away, his arms crossed.

“She’s just a baby, she—hey wait, _why_ is she just a baby?” Dean scrunched his brow in confusion and looked over to Jack.

The young man shrugged, “The only reason I grew so fast was because I wasn’t in a safe place. She must know already that she’s being cared for, so she doesn’t need to grow up yet.”

Sam nodded, “According to the lore, nephilim usually age about one human year for every month after they’re born.”

“So she’ll be fully grown by like eighteen months?” Dean asked quietly, turning to look down at her.

“Roughly,” Sam shrugged, “Who knows, she might be different.”

“Yeah, she is a Winchester after all,” Dean smiled and hesitantly reached out to rest his palm on her head, and found himself surprised with how soft her hair was.

“She is,” Cas nodded, then looked up at Dean with a small smile, “Do you want to hold her?”

“Uh,” Dean swallowed loudly, his eyes looking back and forth between Cas and the sleeping infant.

“Here,” Cas carefully maneuvered her tiny body so he could shift her into Dean’s arms, a grin on his face the entire time.

Dean sucked in a sharp breath as he slid one hand under her bottom, linking his other arm beneath it and pulling her close to his chest. She began whining for a brief moment before she opened her eyes and looked up at him. Dean held his breath as her eyes seemed to look over his entire face before a tiny hand reached up. He leaned his face down so her fingers could scratch his stubble, and as soon as their skin made contact he felt an electric buzz running between them. His gaze jerked over to look at her, and he blew out a shaky breath when he saw her eyes shining a bright silver.

“Holy shit,” Dean whispered as the side of his mouth perked up into a surprised smile.

“This kid is going to curse like a sailor,” Sam rolled his eyes with a chuckle.

“By the way,” Jack scooted off the bed onto his feet, “You guys will eventually have to give her a name.”

“Well, we haven’t been able to agree on a first name—“

“I actually had a new name I wanted to run by you,” Cas interjected as he reached out and let the baby wrap her fingers around his own.

“Oh yeah?” Dean raised an eyebrow, “And it goes with the middle name we picked?”

Cas shrugged, “I think so.”

“What’s the middle name?” Jack asked curiously, tilting his head to the side.

“Jude,” Dean responded, looking up at Sam with a somber smile. “After the song my mom used to sing me.”

“She would love it,” Sam nodded, his jaw clenched tightly in a smile as tears formed in his eyes.

“So what’s your name idea?” Dean turned back to Cas. 

“Well,” Cas sighed loudly, “I know that you have a lot of people in your life that have meant a lot to you. I just feel like this person in particular is worthy of a namesake because she sacrificed her own life to save not only your life, not only Sam’s, but many more in the grand scheme of things.”

“Cas,” Dean whispered, pressing his lips together.

“And we obviously might not agree on this name either,” Cas chuckled, shaking his head, “Because I am still not letting you name our daughter after a kind of pie—“

“Cherry is a cute name,” Dean mumbled.

“Jesus Dean, seriously?”

“Shut up.”

“What’s the name, Castiel?” Jack looked at his surrogate father with wife eyes.

“Joanna,” Cas replied, smiling when Dean’s gaze snapped up to meet his.

“After Jo,” Dean replied, his voice hushed with the tears building in his eyes.

“Yes,” Cas nodded, “And I was even thinking we could call her Joey.”

Sam chuckled softly, “That’s adorable.” 

“Or Jojo,” Cas shrugged.

“Oh hell no, I’m not calling her Jojo, it sounds like a stripper or something,” Dean shook his head adamantly.

“I think it’s cute,” Jack chimed in. 

“We’ll see, she doesn’t need any nicknames right now,” Dean shook his head as he leaned his head down and rubbed his nose against her forehead, “Except Joey.”

Cas’ eyes lit up and his smile grew even wider, “You like it?”

“I love it,” Dean raised his head and lifted a hand to Cas’ cheek, smiling brightly.

“Can it be my turn now?” Jack asked excitedly, walking towards Dean with his arms outstretched. 

Dean smiled at the young man and gently moved her so Jack could take her from him, walking over to place an arm around Cas as they looked at the two nephilim together.

“What do you think,” Jack bent his neck and looked down at the baby in his arms, “Do you like your name, Joey?”

As if on cue, the baby sneezed suddenly and snot shot all over his shirt. Sam and Dean both burst out laughing, and Cas pulled his lips between his teeth to try and hold back his smile as Jack slowly looked up with a disgusted curve to his lips.

“Oh man,” Sam finally spoke, shaking his head, “Congrats, you just got christened as a big brother.”

As Sam walked over and grabbed a towel from Jack’s dresser, Cas wrapped his arm around Dean’s waist and gave a tight squeeze, leaning over and placing a quick kiss on his cheek. Dean turned to look at him and Cas reached up with his spare hand and grabbed Dean’s chin, pulling him in for a long press of their lips.

“Wow,” Dean whispered once he backed away, “What was that for?”

“It was for,” Cas sighed, pausing and shaking his head with a smile before looking back to where Sam was taking Joey from Jack so he could wipe his shirt. The angel leaned over and rested his head on Dean’s shoulder, letting out a long breath.

“For our family.”


	9. Chapter 9

_I believe, ‘cause I can see our future days._

**JUNE 2020**

Jack carefully slid himself out from under Joey’s head, Dean making sure she was comfortable as they all made their way to the foot of the bed.

“What did you see?” Cas asked quietly as they walked.

“She was walking down the hall towards the kitchen,” Jack began, looking back through the doorway to make sure Joey was still asleep, “Then she heard you two arguing, so she tried to sneak to listen to the conversation.”

Jack paused then, taking a deep breath and glancing between the two men warily. Dean raised his eyebrows and threw his arms to the side.

“Well? What did they—we—what happened?” he shook his head.

“You were yelling about…you know what, it’ll be easier if I just show you,” Jack reached up to their foreheads with outstretched fingers. Before he pressed against them, he looked at them both, “Remember, this is from Joey’s point of view.”

Dean and Cas both nodded before Jack let out a slow exhale and allowed his eyes to glow golden. The two men both slammed their eyes shut, allowing their minds to be thrown into the memory.

_Joey walked down the hallway, one of her favorite books clutched in her small hands. It was a children’s lore book that Sam had come across a few months prior, with cartoonish representations of wendigo and vampires to introduce kids to the life of hunting. She was heading towards the kitchen to ask one of her dads to help her read one of the more difficult words. While Jack had given her his language abilities, they had opted to let her learn to read without the help of her supernatural skills._

_As she grew near, she heard the voices of her fathers getting louder and louder in argument. She knew that she should stay out of the conversation, but her childish curiosity pushed her forward as she slowly crept around the corner and listened to the ever growing volume of the dispute._

_“Listen Dean, I don’t care_ what _you think, I can’t—“_

_“You have to care what I think, Cas.”_

_“No, I really don’t.”_

_Joey froze mid step, only a foot away from the open doorway now. Dean added something, but had whispered it angrily with a hissing tone that Joey was unable to understand._

_“What? What does that even mean?”_

_“Oh please, you’ve been looking for a way out of this for months.”_

_“Dean, you can’t be serious right now.”_

_Joey turned and leaned against the wall, pulling her book close to her chest. She turned her head to try and move her ear closer to the doorway, her eyes darting worryingly around the floor._

_“Listen, we’ve been trying to make this work ever since she was born. It’s obvious now that it’s not working.”_

_“We can’t just give up, there’s plenty of other—“_

_“No. We have to do what’s best for Joey.”_

_“You’re not the only one that dictates what’s best for_ our _daughter, Castiel.”_

_“When you’re unable to make the hard decisions, then yes, I am.”_

_“I’m not talking to you about this right now, you’re obviously too emotional to have a conversation.”_

_“I’m emotional because you insist on ignoring the facts that are presented right to your face.”_

_“Listen, I know you think you always know what’s best, but the fact of the matter is you’re wrong a hell of a lot more than you’re right.”_

_“Really? You’re going there, now?”_

_Joey bit her bottom lip and pulled her book close to her chest, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the wall. She heard Dean let out a groan, and carefully took the two steps to peek her head around the corner._

_Dean had one hand pinching the bridge of his nose, the other resting on his hip as he faced away from her. Cas was leaning against the counter, his arms tightly crossed in front of him._

_“Cas, I don’t want us to fight right now.”_

_“Maybe it’s time we had this fight.”_

_Dean’s hand shot down to his side as he jerked his head up and looked at Cas. “What does that mean?”_

_“Something has to change, Dean. It’s been a good eight months, but—“_

_“I’m not doing this,” Dean suddenly held his hand up and spun around quickly._

_Joey tried to hold back the gasp when she heard Cas’ words. She was eight months old. They were fighting about her. They were fighting about making changes, making hard decisions. The thoughts running through her mind were dangerous, scary, making her feel like she had to run away. She had to leave. She needed to make sure her dads were happy again, she had to get away to a time before she was born. She had to get away, get away, get away. Now._

_Dean heard her gasp, and let out a sharp breath before looking down at her face poking through the doorway with a pitiful smile._

_“Jojo, baby, what are you doing?”_

Dean and Cas were then brought back to the present, feeling that significant pull as their minds came rushing back. They both took deep breathes and turned to look through the doorway at Joey, who was stirring slightly in the bed.

“Were we…” Cas trailed off, shaking his head in disbelief, “Were we getting a divorce?”

“Wait, that’s what you got out of that?” Dean snapped his head to look at Cas with an eyebrow cocked.

“Well,” Cas paused, shrugging, “Yes. What did _you_ think was happening?”

“Sounded more to me like Cas— _you_ —whatever, wanted us to stop hunting or something.”

“Wait, really?” Jack tilted his head, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Well yeah,” Dean shrugged, nodding as he crossed his arms, “I could tell that Dean—me—damn it! That _I_ wasn’t talking about splitting up.”

“Oh,” Jack responded, biting his bottom lip. “It seemed to me more like _Cas_ was the one who wanted to separate.”

“Me?” Cas turned and raised his eyebrows incredulously, “If anyone would end the relationship it would be Dean.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Dean cocked an eyebrow.

“Exactly what I said,” Cas nodded, looking Dean in the eye. “I vowed long ago to never leave you.”

“Well…but, that was—“ Dean began, sputtering on his words.

“But nothing,” Cas interjected, holding up a hand before placing it on Dean’s shoulder, “Although the two of us are not currently engaged in a relationship other than our friendship, I can say with complete honesty that there’s nothing you could do to make me want to leave. I imagine that in the future, when we somehow have created a child together, that sentiment would only grow to insurmountable forces.”

Dean stood perfectly still as Cas’ words sunk in, his shoulders sinking as his eyebrows lowered.

“Oh,” he whispered, swallowing as he nodded a few quick times.

Cas shot him a quick smile before removing his hand. “It seems like the main issue now is convincing Joey to go back to her time.”

“Yeah, I was able to grab a glimpse of exactly what time she’s from,” Jack nodded.

“Well that is going to be difficult,” Sam piped in for the first time, sighing, “Every time we’ve mentioned her going back she shuts down.”

“I can’t blame her,” Dean muttered, earning him a hard look from Cas and Sam. “What? I…listen, Sammy, I never told you this but right before Mom died she and Dad got into a big fight. He was going to leave. I ended up hiding under my bed for a few hours because I was so scared that they were going to split up. Mom almost had to call the cops because she couldn’t find me.”

“Wait, seriously?” Sam asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Dean chuckled, running a hand through his hair, “Dad ended up coming home within a day or two and apologized, and everything was back to normal. But in that moment all I wanted was to hide away somewhere, so I know how Joey feels.”

“Maybe you should tell her that,” Cas whispered, his eyes turning down as he tilted his head to the side. “It could help her connect with your situation.”

Dean shook his head, “But mine is different, my parents actually _were_ separating at the time.”

“Still, Dean,” Sam shrugged, “It wouldn’t hurt to try.”

“I don’t know,” Jack muttered, “I kind of agree with Dean, I don’t think us mentioning them—you, potentially splitting up is going to convince her to go back.”

“What other option do we have?” Sam scoffed.

“I mean if Cas gave her the speech he just gave me about never leaving maybe she’d believe him,” Dean gestured with his thumb to the angel with a smirk.

Cas narrowed his eyes and tilted his head, “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I just meant,” Dean paused, clearing his throat, “It made me…I don’t know, I guess I felt…come on, man, you know I’m bad at shit like this.”

“Like what?” Cas asked.

“Yeah Dean, like what?” Sam repeated with a tone of amusement in his voice that earned him a glare from his brother.

“What if I take her back myself?”

The three older men all turned to look at Jack, who was smiling with his palms held up in a shrug.

“Huh?” Dean asked.

“Originally I was planning on just sending her back to her time on her own,” Jack nodded, “But maybe if I offer to accompany her and wait until we find out what the fight was _really_ about, she’ll go along with it.”

“I don’t like it,” Dean shook his head adamantly.

“I agree,” Cas nodded, “What if you get there and we _were_ planning a divorce, and Joey gets upset again?”

“I guess we just need to trust that your views on Dean haven’t changed that much in three years,” Jack shrugged.

“Wait, three years?” Dean turned and raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, she’s from January, 2023,” Jack explained, “Apparently it was also your two year anniversary, judging from the cake I saw in Joey’s memories.”

“Wait, two year—that means that,” Dean cut himself off as he looked to the ceiling and did quick math on his fingers, “No, no way, that means Cas and I got together six months from now.”

“Yes,” Jack nodded once, “January of 2021 would be correct.”

“That’s insane,” Dean responded, trying to ignore the way that Cas’ shoulders slumped slightly at his words.

“Is it though?” Sam asked quietly, one side of his mouth pulling to the side.

Dean looked at Sam, then Jack, and finally over to Cas who was looking up at him through his long eyelashes, the bright blue sparkling as always. He sighed and bit the inside of his cheek before swallowing down the lump in his throat and turning to look at the floor.

“I…I guess not.”

“Really?” Cas’ head snapped up suddenly, his eyes wide.

“I mean…I don’t know, but—no.”

Sam and Jack watched as the hunter and the angel stared into each other’s eyes, both obviously breathing heavy at the tension building between them. Just as Cas opened his mouth to speak, they were all alerted to a noise from the open doorway.

“Daddy?”

Dean visibly startled and looked down at her, forcing a quick smile onto his face before he responded.

“Hey Jojo, how you feeling?” he moved forward and gently ruffled the top of her hair, chuckling when she reached up and swatted his hand away. She walked around him and moved in front of Cas, looking up at him with her blue eyes that matched his perfectly and raising her arms.

“Oh,” The angel breathed out before leaning down and placing his hands under her arms, lifting her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and snuggled her face into his neck, her arms holding tight around his shoulders.

“Are you okay, Joey?” Jack asked quietly, moving forward hesitantly.

Joey nodded against Cas, then turned her head so her voice wouldn’t be muffled against his jacket.

“I’m okay, Bubba, you didn’t hurt me,” she mumbled, reaching up with one hand to rub her eyes, “I promise.”

“Okay sissy,” Jack smiled, leaning up and placing a quick kiss on her forehead.

“Since when did you start calling her that?” Dean chuckled, “I noticed you said it when you were in her head too.”

“Oh,” Jack replied, biting his bottom lip and looking down at the floor sheepishly, “It was another memory she showed me, apparently that’s my nickname for her.”

“That’s sweet, Jack,” Cas responded, giving Dean a glare and pointing with his gaze to the young nephilim who still looked a little embarrassed.

Dean nodded and rolled his eyes, “It is sweet, Jack. You’re her big brother, you’ve gotta have a nickname.”

“What was your nickname for—oh, of course, Sammy,” Jack shook his head with a smile.

“I have to go back now, don’t I.”

All of the eyes in the room went to where Joey was still resting her head against Cas’ shoulder, looking down at the ground.

“It’s okay,” she mumbled, biting her bottom lip, “I know I can’t stay here forever.”

“Jojo,” Dean said quietly, walking towards Cas and rubbing her back, “Jack showed us what happened.”

Joey visibly stiffened under his hand, her arms tightening slightly around Cas’ neck. Cas looked up at Dean and sighed before reaching up with one arm and pressing gently against the back of her head.

“Listen, Joey,” Sam spoke up softly, sliding his hands into his pockets as he bent over slightly to try and catch her gaze, “I know you think that you did something wrong, but that’s not true.”

“Sa—Uncle Sammy’s right,” Dean corrected himself, stepping forward again so Joey’s back was pressed against his chest and his toes were knocking into Cas’. “Whatever happened, it was not your fault. Sometimes grown ups argue and they say things they don’t mean, and—“

“It _was_ my fault though,” Joey interrupted, sitting up suddenly and turning in Cas’ arms to glare at Dean, “It was _all_ my fault. I shouldn’t have gone, I should’ve stayed with Grandma J, if I hadn’t flown to them then none of it would’ve happened.”

“Wait, what?” Jack tilted his head to the side, “Joey what are you talking about?”

Joey wiggled and pushed away from Cas’ chest so he would let her down to the floor, Dean taking a few small steps back to allow her a small amount of space.

“I was staying with Grandma Jody and Aunt Alex while my dads and Uncle Sammy went on a hunt,” she reached up and wiped her nose, “Then I thought I heard one of them praying for me so I lied to Grandma and told her I had to go to the bathroom and then I flew to them. When I got there they were all getting hurt by some vampires. I tried using my powers to help them,” she trailed off, holding her palms up and looking down at them.

“Joey,” Cas whispered, pressing his lips tightly together.

“I’m not very good at using my powers yet,” Joey muttered, biting the insides of her cheeks as she clenched and unclenched her fists, “I killed the vampire that was trying to hurt Daddy—well, you, but my powers were too strong and hit all of you.”

“Oh,” Dean nodded, swallowing loudly before hesitantly adding, “Was everything okay?”

“I had to pray for Bubba,” Joey looked down at the floor and shook her head, sniffling quietly, “Luckily you all weren’t too hurt, so Bubba was able to heal you.”

“Oh Joey,” Cas responded quietly.

“It’s my fault that you two were fighting,” she shook her head, “You were fighting about me coming to a hunt, it’s all my fault.”

“Okay, hold up,” Dean held up a hand, narrowing his eyes, “I can guarantee you we were fighting about you possibly getting hurt, _not_ about us getting hurt.”

“But—“

“No, let me finish,” Dean interrupted her, “We have _God_ on our side. We’re not worried about one of us getting hurt beyond repair, Jojo. We’re just humans. Well, except Cas, but—never mind, the point is that you’re our daughter, and we don’t want anything bad to ever happen to you.”

“But I hurt you,” Joey whispered, her head falling forward as she looked at the ground.

“Angel,” Cas spoke softly as he bent over and lifted her chin with his thumb, “It was an accident. And from the sounds of it, if you hadn’t shown up we might not have made it out of that hunt.”

“Yeah Joey, you saved them,” Jack added with a soft smile.

“I…I did?” she asked, looking up at the faces of the men surrounding her.

“Absolutely,” Dean responded, “You saved their—our—damn it, you saved the lives of everyone there.”

“I guess,” she responded, biting the insides of her cheeks nervously as she picked at her fingers.

“So listen, Joey,” Cas wrapped an arm around her shoulders and leaned his forehead against the top of her head, “I know that you’re worried about returning home. I understand it. But you know you have to, right?”

“Yes,” she replied instantly, surprising the four men, “I’m…I’m ready, I think.”

“Okay, good,” Dean nodded, clapping his hands together as he looked over at Jack, “What do we need to do?”

“Well, first off, I’m going to have to erase your memories.”

“Wait what?” Dean replied loudly, his hands falling to his sides.

“Why?” Sam asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Guys,” Jack sighed with a quiet groan, “I know you’ve heard of the butterfly effect.”

“Yeah yeah, a butterfly flaps its wings, something crazy happens, whatever,” Dean wiggled his head with an eye roll, “Wouldn’t the crazy stuff have already happened though?”

“Not necessarily,” Sam responded with a hushed tone, “I’ve read about time travel happening with supernatural creatures, and the butterfly effect only starts after twelve hours.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Dean shook his head, “We don’t know that’s what’s going to happen.”

“Do you want to risk it?” Jack asked him with his jaw set, “It could alter the rest of your lives, including the very _existence_ of Joey.”

Cas and Dean immediately locked eyes before looking down at the little girl in front of them. Without any further communication, they both knew and agreed with what had to be done.

“Okay,” Cas nodded, “Do it.”

“Wait,” Dean held up a hand, “We…we get to say good-bye, right?”

Jack smiled sweetly before nodding, “Of course.”

Sam stepped forward first, bending over at a ninety degree angle to look her in the eyes, “Listen, you’d better keep these two in line, okay?”

“Okay Uncle Sammy,” Joey giggled before she wrapped her arms around his neck and placing a quick peck on his cheek.

“Be good, kiddo,” he whispered in her ear before kissing the top of her head and backing away.

Cas took a small step towards her and was surprised when she lifted her arms. He smiled and picked her up, her legs automatically going around his waist and linking behind his back.

“Does he spoil you like that in your time too?” Dean scoffed with a chuckle.

“Yup,” Joey responded as she buried her face into his neck with a smirk.

Dean rolled his eyes as Cas pulled her closer, one hand on the back of her head. He smiled and kissed her temple before she leaned back in his arms, a bright smile on her face. She let her forehead fall forward slightly until it touched Cas’, and both of their eyes shone with their grace for a brief moment.

“Good-bye, Angel,” Cas whispered before carefully letting her back to the ground.

Dean looked down at Joey with a quiet sniff as she ventured slowly in front of him, and she bit her bottom lip when she realized he had tears forming in his eyes.

“I’m, uh,” he paused, reaching out to ruffle the top of her hair, “I’m gonna miss you. I know my memories are gonna be gone and whatnot, but still.”

“I’ll miss you too,” she whispered before rushing forward and encircling her arms around his waist. Dean froze for a moment before looking up at the ceiling, trying to fend off the tears threatening to spill over his lids. He finally gave up and bent over slightly at the waist to wrap his arms around her shoulders, squeezing tightly. When she finally let go and looked up at him, Dean couldn’t help himself but bend down and kiss the very tip of her nose, making her wrinkle it up and giggle.

“Are you ready?” Jack asked quietly, looking between the three men with sad eyes.

“Yeah,” Sam whispered, nodding.

“Yes,” Cas sighed.

“Yup, just do it, get it over with,” Dean responded, closing his eyes and flinching in an attempt to brace himself for Jack’s powers.

“I have to not only remove your memories, but transport you back to before Joey arrived,” Jack explained as Joey moved behind him.

“Wait really?” Dean moaned, peeking one eye open.

“Dean, we can’t just lose six hours of our day,” Sam rolled his eyes and shot Dean a typical Sam bitch face.

“Well, maybe we would think it was a witch, or that—“ he stopped when he realized Cas was looking at him with a typical _Cas_ face, “Fine, take me back, whatever.”

“It’ll be easiest if you all just grab a hold of my arm for this,” Jack held out his hand, “That way I can make sure you all get to the right time.”

“I was in my truck, driving home,” Cas informed him with a quick nod.

“Dean and I were in the library,” Sam responded, “Dean was pretending to clean.”

“Hey,” Dean turned and shot his brother a look.

“It’s okay, I’ll just put you all back to whatever you were doing,” Jack sighed, nodding for the three of them to place their hands on his arm. Once they did, it was only a brief moment before Jack’s eyes lit up and he took a deep breath. Joey saw Dean peek one eye open and shoot her one last smile before the three men disappeared in front of her. Jack remained in his spot, and she waited until his eyes returned to normal before she stepped forward.

“Did it work?” she asked quietly.

Jack shrugged before looking down at her, “Only one way to find out.”

They both carefully walked down the hall to the library, and Jack held out a hand to stop Joey when they heard Sam and Dean’s voices from around the corner.

“Dude, she’s already seen this place at its worst.”

“That’s the point, Dean.”

Joey spun around and smiled up at Jack, “It worked.”

Jack grinned before bending at the waist, holding his arms out for her, “You ready to go for a ride?”

Joey turned and gave one last pensive glance down the empty hallway before looking back at her brother with a soft smile.

“Let’s do it.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it! The final chapter! This is my first multi-chapter fic, and I'm so grateful to all of those who have read, commented, and given kudos! 
> 
> Also, a HUGE thank you to my beta through all of this, Dani! I love you girl!!

_Days of you and me._

** JANUARY 2023 **

Jack had to remain the most focused as he’d ever been as he transported Joey and himself forward in time. This was the furthest he’d ever travelled using his wings, and he squeezed his arms wrapped tightly around Joey as she kept her face pressed against his chest.

They had decided together that when they arrived, they would remain hidden until Joey was ready to make herself known. Jack decided to land them in the basement of the bunker with a quiet thud, Joey keeping her arms and legs wrapped around him until he gently patted her back. She slowly slid to the ground, sneaking one hand into Jack’s and holding tight as she looked around.

“Let’s go,” Jack whispered, slowly moving to the doorway and pulling Joey along behind him. She reached up her other hand and began pressing against her lips, biting the inside of her cheeks nervously.

“Bubba,” she spoke quietly once they were in the hallway, pointing down the opposite way. Jack turned and looked, automatically moving in front of her when he saw the shadows against the corner of the wall getting bigger.

“They won’t be able to see us yet,” Jack shook his head, letting his eyes shine gold for a brief moment to make them both invisible to others. He pushed her against the wall, his arm reached along her chest as she held onto his hand with both of hers. They both watched down the hall as the shadows grew closer and closer, the voices echoing against the walls. As soon as the figures came around the corner, Jack felt Joey’s grip tighten.

“Dean, we’ve looked down here a hundred times already,” Cas sighed as he followed his husband down the hall.

“I know that, Cas,” Dean replied, running a hand through his hair, “What are we supposed to do, just give up looking?”

“Of course not,” Cas hissed, his eyes narrowed as he grabbed onto Dean’s shoulder and forced him to turn around directly in front of Jack and Joey. Dean refused to meet his gaze, looking instead down at the ground.

“I just don’t know what to do,” Dean mumbled, “It’s not like we can call the cops and tell them that our half human half angel child flew away and we can’t find her.”

“I know,” Cas responded quietly, trying to lean down to catch Dean’s eye. The angel let out a long breath before slowly reaching out and lifting Dean’s chin with his thumb. “Dean.”

“I’m so worried, Cas,” Dean whispered, his bottom lip trembling as his eyes brimmed with unshed tears. “What if we can’t find her?”

“We’ll find her.”

“You don’t know that,” Dean sniffed, biting the inside of his cheeks, “Jack’s been trying to find her for hours, what if she accidentally went to another world, Cas, what if she’s in apocalypse world?”

“Dean,” Cas pressed his hands against Dean’s cheeks, his head lowered as he stared into his eyes, “You have to breathe.”

“I can’t lose her,” Dean whispered as a single tear fell down his cheek and onto Cas’ hand. “ _We_ can’t lose her.”

“I know,” Cas nodded, “Let’s keep looking, maybe we’ll find a sign of where she went.”

“It’s all my fault,” Dean suddenly pulled back and shook his head, “This is all because we got into that stupid fight, if I had realized how idiotic I was being about—“

“Dean, don’t blame yourself,” Cas interrupted, shaking his head roughly, “We both said things that we didn’t mean.”

“You were right though,” Dean nodded, “It’s time to quit.”

Jack felt Joey inhale sharply and her arms wrapped tighter around his wrist, her eyes squeezing shut as he felt her heart rate increase.

Cas sighed in understanding, his eyes falling as he tilted his head to the side, “Are you sure about this, Dean? This is not a simple decision.”

“I know,” Dean swallowed loudly, “But at the end of the day, Jojo’s happiness is all that matters.”

“Yes,” Cas replied slowly, “But this is about your entire life.”

“Listen Cas, we thought we could make hunting with a child work, and it’s just not,” Dean shook his head, “We need to quit.”

Jack gasped with a small smile, his head snapping down to look at Joey whose eyes had opened sharply and her mouth dropped open slightly. She looked up at him with bright eyes, her chest heaving as she breathed heavily.

“Let’s go,” Cas replied, leaning forward and placing his lips against Dean’s. They stayed there for a few seconds, and when Jack automatically looked away from the display of affection, he muffled a laugh with his hand when he glanced down and saw Joey making a disgusted face.

“Gross,” he heard her whisper, and he moved his hand to hold a finger up to his lips in a silencing motion.

Jack waited until Dean and Cas had walked down the hallway and up the staircase to lower their invisibility, nodding down at Joey.

“They’re…” she began, trailing off with a questioning look on her face that Jack recognized from the many times he had seen it on Castiel, “They’re not getting a divorce?”

“No,” Jack replied with a small smile, moving to a squat in front of her to get down to her eye level, “They’re going to quit hunting. That’s what they were arguing about.”

Joey’s face slowly brightened, her mouth widening into a smile before she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Jack’s neck, stuffing her face into the crook. Jack almost fell backwards from the force of it, but instead stood up and lifted her into his arms. He closed his eyes and squeezed her tightly before pulling back and rubbing the top of her head.

“You ready to go see your dads?”

Joey nodded enthusiastically, scrambling out of his arms and running towards the stairs with her brother close behind. Just as she set one foot onto the bottom step, she stopped and turned around.

“Okay, so I have to get _my_ time’s Bubba and bring him to you so he can take you back and erase your memories, right?”

“Yes,” Jack responded with a quick nod.

Joey rolled her eyes, “This is so confusing.”

“Well, maybe if someone didn’t go _traveling through time_ ,” Jack teased, reaching out and poking her forehead with his finger.

Joey giggled and swatted his hand away before sighing and smiling at him. “I love you, Bubba. Thank you.”

“I…” Jack paused, inhaling deeply before nodding slowly, “I love you too.”

“Are you going to just stay invisible or hide somewhere?” Joey asked as they walked up the staircase together. When she turned back around, she realized that she couldn’t see Jack anymore, so she nodded, “Invisible, got it.”

She walked through the doorway into the small hallway outside the war room before slowly creeping towards the map table, her eyes darting nervously around the room. Just as she opened her mouth to call for someone, she heard a shout from behind her.

“Sissy!”

She spun around just in time for her brother to run towards her with his arms open, scooping her up into his arms and pressing one hand against the back of her hair.

“Hi Bubba,” she responded, looking at the spot where she assumed the past Jack was around over her _current_ Jack’s shoulder.

“Where have you been?” Jack pulled away and walked over to the map table, setting her down on it and placing his hands on both sides of her hips, “Dads have been freaking out for hours!”

“I know,” she replied sheepishly, looking down at her clasped hands. “I just—“

“Dean! Castiel!”

Just as Joey looked up at her brother, she realized he was looking through the large opening to the library. She slowly turned her head and held her breath when she saw her fathers stood frozen on their feet, their mouths agape and their chests heaving.

“Joey,” Dean whispered before he broke into a quick sprint towards the table, snatching her up and pressing her against his chest. Joey was barely able to suck in a breath before Cas was pressed against her back, his arms wrapped around both her and Dean and squeezing tightly.

“Where have you been, ol monon?” Cas asked roughly, maneuvering to the side and grabbing Joey’s cheeks.

She opened her eyes and saw that both of her fathers had tears streaming down their faces as their eyes darted over her face as if to make sure she was okay.

“It’s a long story,” she smiled, “I’m so sorry. Both of you. I’m just really glad to be home.”

Dean choked out a quick sob before pulling her head back to his shoulder and closing his eyes. Cas leaned forward and placed his forehead against Dean’s, holding the back of his neck as they cried tears of relief together.

“Daddy,” she grunted, pushing gently against Dean as his strength began making it hard to breathe. “Dad, I promise I’ll tell you both what happened. But I have to do one last thing first.”

“What?” Cas narrowed his eyes and tilted his head as Dean carefully let Joey to her feet.

“I just have to talk to Bubba by myself for a minute,” she grabbed one of each of her fathers’ hands and gave a quick squeeze, “I promise, I’ll be right back. Ol zir tol vaoan.”

“No, no, don't go saying "I'm okay" in Enochian like it'll make everything better,” Dean immediately grabbed her wrist as she tried to turn away, “You’re never leaving my sight again.”

“Daddy I’ll be with Bubba,” Joey rolled her eyes and looked up at her father, “I _promise_ , I’m not going anywhere.”

“Dean,” Cas whispered, sliding his hand around Dean’s waist. “She’ll be with Jack. Plus you need to let everyone else know we found her so they can call off the search. I’m sure Sam and Eileen have driven halfway across Montana by now.”

Dean’s gaze snapped to his husband, an angry look on his face before he visibly softened and lowered his head.

“Fine,” he muttered, but turned and pointed a rough finger down at Joey, “No. Flying.”

“Yes sir,” she rolled her eyes again, turning and walking towards a very confused Jack. She reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the infirmary. Once they were inside she locked the door and turned back around, looking about the empty room with a smile.

“What’s going on—“

“You can come out now,” Joey interjected.

Just as Jack raised an eyebrow and was about to ask her what the heck she was talking about, he almost fell onto the floor when someone identical to him appeared directly in front of him.

“Hello,” he smiled, holding up a hand in typical Jack fashion.

“What the,” future Jack responded, taking a few steps back and raising his hand, his eyes beginning to glow as he yanked Joey behind him.

“Bubba no,” she shouted, pushing at his hands as he continued trying to keep her at bay, “Don’t hurt him, he’s _you_.”

“What?” future Jack shouted, turning his head just enough to try and hear her better as he kept his eyes locked on the man in front of him.

Joey huffed out a breath before reaching out and placing her hand on Jack’s bicep, her own eyes glowing silver as she spoke, “Put your hand down, now.”

Past Jack watched in surprise and slight terror as his future self lowered his hand immediately, his eyes falling back to their normal blue.

“Wait, how did you just do that?” Past Jack asked incredulously, his eyebrows raised, “You can influence me—him—me?”

Joey nodded before walking in between her brothers and and holding up her hands to defend the past version.

“Listen, when I disappeared I went to the past,” Joey began, “I won’t tell you much more, but I need you to do me a favor. Well, technically do _yourself_ a favor.”

“Okay,” Future Jack responded slowly, his eyes drifting up and down his past counterpart.

“You have to follow him back to his time and erase his memories,” Joey sighed before looking at her past brother with sad eyes. “He can’t remember me.”

“I…I guess I don’t really have a choice, right?” Future Jack sighed, shrugging his shoulders before narrowing his eyes and tilting his head, “But wait, if I’m you, and you’re me, and I haven’t erased your memories yet, why can’t I remember this whole thing?”

“My head hurts,” Past Jack chuckled, shaking his head, “But honestly, I’m not sure. It might be because it’s been less than twelve hours, it could be because you’re _going_ to erase my memories, but the truth is we’ll never really know.”

“Wait, what time period are you from?” Future Jack asked.

“Twenty twenty,” he responded.

“Oh, so you already know that we turn into God then,” Future Jack nodded with a smile, with Past Jack returning the gesture. “Well then, are you ready to go?”

“Almost,” Past Jack held up a finger before bending over at the waist in front of Joey, who was sniffling back tears.

“I know it’s silly,” she shrugged, looking at the floor, “I can’t miss you, I’m gonna have you here still.”

“It’s okay,” Jack reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek, “I’m not going to remember you, but I know I’ll still miss you.”

“Love you, Bubba,” she said quietly before moving forward and giving him a long, strong hug. Past Jack squeezed her back before slowly standing and looking at his future self, nodding.

“Let’s do this.”

As soon as his future self pressed his fingers to his forehead, he was surprised by the amount of strength he felt through the connection. He figured that as he became more used to being God he would develop a few more powers, but this intense energy was so breathtaking he found himself reaching out and grabbing hold of his counterpart’s shoulders.

When they finally came to a screeching halt, Past Jack was surprised to find himself on the high roof of the bunker. His hand immediately pressed against his stomach as gravity came hurtling back to him, and he shook his head roughly to combat the intense dizziness.

“Sorry,” Future Jack apologized quickly, “I should’ve gone a little slower.”

“It’s okay,” Past Jack took a deep breath and shrugged. He looked out over the small valley surrounded by woods and smiled when he saw Castiel’s truck coming up the road.

“Is this the moment that you wanted to be brought back to?” Future Jack asked, leaning over the edge.

“Yes,” Past Jack nodded once, “If it’s possible, when you erase my memories, can you plant one of me coming down to check on them? That will explain why I’m here.”

“Of course,” Future Jack nodded as Cas’ truck came to a slow stop near the bunker’s door. They both watched as he got out of the vehicle, pulling several grocery bags out with him and walking towards the entrance.

“He has no idea just how different his life is going to be in just three short years,” Future Jack smiled softly.

“I’m just so happy,” Past Jack inhaled deeply, pausing before continuing, “I’m just so happy that he’s going to be happy. He deserves that.”

Future Jack turned to look at his past self, nodding before reaching out and pressing his fingers to his forehead to erase his memories, speaking three last words before traveling back to his time.

“You all do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This is my first multi-chapter fic, so comments will keep me wanting to write and post! I hope you enjoy!


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